Stand Proud and Make Yourself a Legend
by JohnJoestar17
Summary: In 1951, Robert Edward O. Speedwagon refused Keel Lorenz's invitation to join SEELE. In 2015, that fateful decision bears fruit as destiny brings men, women, and children together not just to make a stand against the Angels, but also the end of days.
1. Prologue

**United States of America, 1951**

On a snowy night in New York, a plain-looking car pulled to a stop on a dimly-lit alleyway. Soon, an elderly man stepped out, his boots crunching in the snow. His face was covered by a heavy scarf as well as a fur hat that replaced the fedora he normally wore. He briefly glanced at a crumpled piece of paper that contained his destination, then started his walk after pocketing the sheet. His boots crunched in the snow as he glanced at every store he passed, trying to find the place where he would meet his associates, for the lack of a better term. The man did not personally know them all that well, save for the fact that they were some of the finest scholars, theologians, and philosophers in the world and that they worked with his foundation from time to time. This would be his first time meeting them in person, and they were quite vague in their invitation. "The greatest undertaking in human history", he remembered the invitation that came in his mail as he wondered why they decided to hold their initial meeting in a run-down portion of New York that reminded him of the London street on which he met the man who turned his life around. _And why did I have to come alone, anyway?_ He wondered as he kept walking. _Shouldn't something be this important be shared with people outside of this circle?_

Soon, he found the place he was looking for, a small restaurant with most of the windows covered in thick curtains that blocked out the light from the inside. _Perfect mafioso hideout._ He thought, a sense of foreboding rose in him as he briefly paused outside the door. _I hope this is worth it._ He pushed the door open and strode inside. A waitress greeted him as he took off his hat and scarf, revealing a weathered face with short graying blond hair and a scar that ran diagonally from his left cheek to the area between his bright blue eyes.

"Good evening, sir." A waitress with a cheap-looking uniform greeted him. "Table for one?"

"Someone's expecting me, actually." He said with the fading remnants of a English accent. "A Mr. Lorenz".

"Right this way, sir." The waitress guided him to a well-lit room that had twelve men sitting on a circular table, with a thirteenth spot left open. The room seemed pleasant enough, with moderately-priced furniture, potted plants that added a little cheer to the winter atmosphere, freshly-baked bread on the table, and a candle burning at the center of the table. Despite the appearance, the man could **「smell」** something wrong with the room, or rather the people in the room. It was not their physical scent, per say, but rather a sense of reading people's character that the old man has kept ever since his Ogre Street days.

"Ah, Robert, so glad you could come." A bespectacled blond man with a grey suit and a German accent stood up and shook the old man's hand as the waitress left and closed the door behind her. "Dr. Keel Lorenz, a pleasure to meet you at last. I trust that your journey here was a pleasant one?"

"As pleasant as it could be in this weather." Robert replied as he did the best he could to hid his reaction to the unpleasant **「smell」** in the room. "Although you have to forgive an old man for wondering why he has to walk alone in one of the least respectable parts of the city for this meeting."

"Secrecy, my friend." Keel wrapped his right arm around Robert's shoulders as he brought his left index finger to his lips and whispered near Robert's ear. "What we are discussing must not be leaked beyond this circle."

"Very well, then." Robert said as Keel guided him to his seat. "What is this all about?"

"Are you aware of the recent discoveries of the Dead Sea Scrolls?" Keel grinned as another man placed some file folders on the table. "The Speedwagon Foundation's support for the excavation was greatly appreciated."

"Those religious documents?" Robert asked. "They hardly seem that interesting."

"That's what we told the public, yes." Keel kept his grin which made Robert even more nervous. "There are, however, documents that we and the Foundation have kept secret. Documents that pertain to the true origins of life on Earth."

"What are you trying to get at?" Robert asked, hiding the fact that he was already briefed on the discoveries of the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls. "What do these ancient myths have to do with the so-called 'greatest undertaking'?"

"These 'ancient myths' would allow us to finally bring peace to this world!" Keel said loudly as he stood up as he swept his arms to his side. "With your money and the Speedwagon Foundation's talents, we can finally unify humanity within the next twenty years."

"You have to forgive me for my suspicions." Robert said as he noticed Keel's **「smell」** becoming even more repulsive. "But how do you plan to accomplish world piece with documents that are a few thousand years old?"

"All in due time, my friend." Keel has he sat back down and crossed his legs while clasping his hands in front of his mouth. "We'll need you to sign a contract before we can give you any details. Do you agree?"

Robert quickly scanned the contract and noticed that the tone of the document was mostly religious in nature, as well as some unusual items. Namely, it was actually a founding charter for an organization named "SEELE" and that Keel Lorenz would be the leader of the group until his death. Another item stated the Speedwagon Foundation would hand over all Dead Sea Scrolls in their custody to SEELE. The third, and most unnerving item was the constant reference to something called "Instrumentality". Although Robert Edward O. Speedwagon is by no means clairvoyant, he could tell that under the facade of world peace, Keel and his group were no better than Dio. From the deepest corners of his heart, he knew that if he were to sign the charter that exuded a sinister aura, he would damn himself and his foundation to a path so dark, Jonathan Joestar would never forgive him. At that moment, he knew what his decision was.

"No. I refuse." Speedwagon stood up and gathered his belongings.

"Robert, wait! Didn't the two Great Wars cause enough suffering in humanity? Don't you see the divide between the East and West would doom us all?" Keel pleaded as he stood up and motioned for the other members of the circle to restrain Speedwagon. "The only way to save humanity is through Instrumentality, but you are walking away from it without even knowing what it is!"

"I don't need to know! I can tell that there is something sinister about this scheme." Speedwagon shook off the arms of two other SEELE members with a strength that did not fit his advanced age. "Do not ever contact me again, and the Speedwagon Foundation shall no longer work with any of you!"

With that, Speedwagon practically leaped out of the front door of the restaurant. He quickly made his way back to his car, where his driver was waiting.

"Didn't expect you back so early, Uncle Speedwagon." Joseph Joestar said as Speedwagon buckled himself into the seat beside the driver's seat. "Party didn't go that well?"

"Just take us to your mother's place, JoJo." Speedwagon said in between deep breaths. "We need to have a serious discussion."

 **Japan, 2005**

"Daddy?" A young boy said as he sobbed, barely keeping his words together and shaking in his chair. "Why? Did I do something bad?"

The man, who had the beginnings of a beard and short messy dark hair, stared ahead, oblivious to the crying boy.

"Daddy, why am I being sent away?" The boy asked, still chocking from sobs and wiping tears. "I'll be a good boy, I promise. I'll do the chores, I'll do my homework every day, and I'll even…"

"No." The father replied.

"Daddy?"

"You are not staying with me." The man said without even turning to face his son. "The decision has already been made. You are being sent to a relative of your mother's."

The boy, heartbroken at his failed attempt to convince his father, went from sobbing to a full-on cry. He wailed and wailed, but his father stood still like a statue, and his face was set at a neutral expression without a hint of change.

"Such a heartless man." A woman whispered to her husband. "Abandoning his son like that, and not even bothering to stop him crying."

"Should we call the police?" A girl in a high school uniform asked her friend. "Do you think this is the abuse the teachers were talking about?"

The man remained impassive and showed no reaction to the crying boy or comments from the nearby people. He let the boy cry and thrash in the chair for the next 10 minutes while he himself sat still like a statue. His reverie was finally interrupted when a younger man wearing a backpack, a vest that showed off his toned midriff and had pens for buttons, as well as what appeared to be a jagged green headband stepped in front of him.

"Hey, pal, you Gendo Ikari?" The newcomer asked, bending forward as he put his hands on his hips and spread his legs slightly more than shoulder-width. "I'm only doing this because one of Tomoko's son's friends kept nagging me about it, so let's get this over with."

"Very well, then." Gendo stood up and shook the man's hand. "Shinji? Take your bags and follow this man to the train. Don't even think about trying to follow me home."

"But, but, but…" Shinji finally managed to choke out those 3 words 2 minutes after his father's instructions. "He seems like a really mean…"

"Just go. I won't be taking care of you from now on." Mr. Ikari said quickly and with an edge in his tone. "Stop wasting this man's time over there and go."

"Listen, buddy! I actually bothered to learn your name, so I expect the same courtesy from you too." The younger man began to raise his voice while pointing at himself with his right thumb. "The great Rohan Kishibe refuses to be treated like a damn nobody!"

Gendo Ikari remained impassive at the younger man's outburst, seemingly oblivious to the crowd that began to gather around them. His mouth began to twitch, and his slowly closed his left hand into a fist and kept it clenched even when his nails dug deep enough into his palm to draw blood.

"What's he doing?"

"Is he going to fight the young man?"

"Holy shit! That's Rohan Kishibe? Do you think I can get an autograph from him after the fight?"

Gendo remained still, seemingly ignoring the crowd around him while staring into the younger mangaka's eyes. Finally, he relaxed his fist and took a deep breath.

"My apologies, Mr. Kishibe. I did not mean to offend you." Gendo said flatly as if he never meant to apologize. "Please take Shinji to his mother's cousin and be on your way."

Before anybody in the crowd could react, Rohan grabbed Shinji by the hand and led him away to the train platform.

"Sorry, I'm not doing autographs today." Rohan said absentmindedly as he half-walked and half-dragged Shinji towards the train platform. "I'm on a personal errand for a friend."

After ten minutes, the train arrived, and the two got themselves settled comfortably in their seats.

For the next half-hour, Shinji did not move or talk, but simply stared outside the window in a daze. Rohan barely noticed the child's lack of movement as he took out a notebook and began sketching. Memories of the confrontation with the senior Ikari from earlier, as well as the sight of Shinji in front of him, all faded away as he filled page after page with sketches for future issues of Pink Dark Boy.

After travelling all over Japan and some parts of Siberia for the past two weeks, Rohan was glad he could go back to Morioh to translate what he saw into fresh panels for his ongoing masterpiece, which did not pause publication even in the dark days immediately following the Second Impact. If anything, Pink Dark Boy took him to new levels of fame as audiences around the world were inspired by the struggles of Rohan's characters and began to see the manga as a message of hope. He was one of the first non-government members to travel internationally after the Second Impact, and the first mangaka to do so to promote his work. Of course, Rohan cared for none of that since he just wanted to draw manga. If people saw some hidden message in his work, that was their problem, not his. As always, Rohan filled page after page with sketches and ideas without a care in the world. Not even a train derailment would stop his…

"Excuse me, sir." A feminine voice pulled the mangaka out of his reverie. Rohan snapped his head up and found himself looking at a woman in her 30s wearing a train attendant's uniform and a cart in front of her.

 _Wow, lunch time already?_ Rohan thought as he ordered some food for Shinji and himself as well as giving the attendant an autograph for her son. _Sometimes I wish I could trade Heaven's Door for a Stand that could slow down time. I can get more work done that way. A Stand that negates my need for food and sleep could also work._

With some coaxing from the mangaka, who didn't seem so mean anymore, as well as a grumbling belly, Shinji finally began to dig into his meal. After lunch was done, the child found himself drifting into a nap that was anything but peaceful, with him mumbling "mommy" and "daddy" once every few seconds.

Rohan poked Shinji a couple times to ensure that he was indeed sleeping and looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then, he took out his pen and quickly drew in the air. "Heaven's Door", he said softly, and a short humanoid form wearing a top hat and a trench coat materialized out of the air and laid its hand on Shinji. The child's flesh split open into countless thin slices and immediately gained the texture of paper while words appeared all over the "pages" that made up Shinji's body.

"All right, kid. Let's have a look." Rohan mumbled to himself as he flipped through the pages. "What kind of stuff in your life can I use for my manga?"

Rohan was quickly disappointed. Everything about Shinji's life was unbelievably bland. The child was brought up in a normal home, had parents with respectable careers, and had a normal childhood. From what he could read, both Gendo and Yui Ikari worked for some kind of advanced research laboratory. Hoping to find something that was remotely interesting, Rohan kept going through the pages until he stopped a little bit before the end. Rohan rubbed his eyes and refocused on the page, not believing what he's reading. On one hand, he was horrified as Shinji had to witness his mother literally dissolving inside what the child's memories describe as a "giant metal monster" while other adults desperately tried to save her. On the other hand, Rohan was morbidly fascinated by the memories and already began to plan out how to including this tidbit of information into his work. He was engrossed in reading about the former Yui Higashikata's death for a full hour before moving on to Shinji's memories of a father who grew cold and distant.

"Damn it, Koichi. This favour better be worth it" Rohan said as Heaven's Door turned Shinji's body back to normal. "At least he's not my problem to deal with after we get to Morioh."

A/N: Just an experimental piece I wanted to do. I might continue this later.


	2. Chapter 1 - Touched by An Angel

A/N: Without further ado, here's the official chapter 1.

Guest: No, Ikari's last name shouldn't be Higashikata just because of Yui's last name. In the Rebuild movies, Yui _Ayanami_ married into the Ikari family, and that's the approach I'm taking here. Besides, since this is an AU, anything goes.

lolrus555: I really appreciated the positive comments! I hope you'll be thrilled with future chapters!

Mugiwara N0 Luffy: Being brought up by Josuke and Tomoko definitely had a positive impact on Shinji's life, but he still has abandonment issues with Gendo. The fic would delve into his issue, and I hope I can do it justice.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Evangelion belongs to Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara while JoJo's Bizarre Adventure belongs to Hirohiko Araki and Lucky Land Communications.

[=======]

Due to Morioh's location near the coast, it suffered severe flooding during the Second Impact that led to major property damage and loss of life. However, the aftermath of the disaster truly showed the character of its citizens. People eagerly took in their newly-homeless neighbours, and everyone rolled up their sleeves to help with the recovery and reconstruction efforts. When infrastructure damage and the disappearance of tourist revenue severely depleted Morioh's coffers, the people simply tightened their belts and continued to volunteer their time for the rebuilding process.

Among the volunteers was a motley group of high school students, led by one Josuke Higashikata, who did their work with almost superhuman levels of dedication. The mangaka Rohan Kishibe donated over half of his fortunes to help with the town's reconstruction and was commissioned by Morioh's mayor to produce several pieces of art to promote a post-recovery Morioh. Their experience with the recovery efforts inspired Josuke to pursue a career as a doctor and Okuyasu Nijimura to become a firefighter instead of enlisting in the fledgling JSSDF.

Morioh recovered from most of its losses by 2005 with a population of 58,654. Although its tourist income could not match pre-Second Impact levels at the time due to slowly-easing restrictions on international travel, the town experienced a boom in the high-tech sector that ultimately led to the establishment of Morioh University in 2009 with support from the Speedwagon Foundation. By 2015, Morioh's population reached 70,000, not counting the students, and tourist revenues was estimated to be on par with pre-Second Impact amounts. Antonio Trussardi's restaurant remains the sole Italian eatery in Morioh.

 **July 2015**

Dr. Josuke Higashikata took a sip of water as he turned on the TV after a long day of work at Morioh's hospital. Although he received several offers after his residency from some of Japan's best hospitals at major urban centers, he elected to return to Morioh, the hometown he rarely saw ever since he left for university back in the beginning of the millennium. Morioh was still in the early stages of reconstruction when he left after spending time outside of school volunteering with the recovery efforts, but had made major strides every time Josuke returned until it became a bustling community that exceeded its former glory.

It was during one of those visits that Josuke noticed he gained a new little brother in the form of Shinji Ikari, who was sent to Morioh because his mother Tomoko was the only relative of Shinji's deceased mother that would take him in. Even though he couldn't come to Morioh that often, Josuke did his best to help his mom take care of Shinji over the course of the next 10 years until Shinji was summoned, and quite rudely so, back to Tokyo-3 by his father Gendo. Before Shinji left, however, Josuke helped Shinji break out of his shell and becoming more confident with the help of his friends and relatives who occasionally visited.

"Our thoughts are with the Japanese people during these difficult times. Now, more than ever, the nations of the world need to unite and take a stand against what could very well be our extinction." President Valentine of the United States addressed the reporters on TV. "The United States will provide full military support to the UN and NERV in order to defend humanity against the 'Angel' threat."

Every news channel was talking about the events in Tokyo-3 a couple of days ago, where a giant monster dubbed an "Angel" wreaked havoc across the city and tore through its defenses until it was finally stopped by a giant purple robot that tore it limb from limb. _That would look like a pretty cool Stand._ Josuke thought as he watched archive footage of the robot tearing past what appeared to be an orange hexagonal energy field with both hands before tackling the angel to the ground. Suddenly, his phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, Josuke grinned as he picked up the phone and muted the TV.

"How's it going, Shinji? I was just watching the news about what happened in Tokyo-3." Josuke said as he laid down on the couch. "You doing all right over there?"

"I just got out of the hospital, actually." Shinji's voice came from the phone. "You wouldn't believe the crap I had to go through ever since I got here."

[-]

 **Two Days Ago, Tokyo-3**

"Major Katsuragi, you are late." Gendo said from atop his pedestal which was at least 40 meters higher than Misato's position. "Do you have the Third Child with you?"

"My sincere apologies, Commander Ikari." Misato Katsuragi gave a quick bow while remaining at the position of attention. "But I did bring Shinji with me, almost at the cost of my own life."

Taking that as his cue, the teenager who stood off to the side in the shadows strode forward into the view of his estranged father. Shinji had drastically changed ever since Gendo left him 10 years ago. Instead of the meek and wiry boy, there was a well-built young man who was around 168cm tall and exuded an air of confidence. Shinji had long since traded his bowl-cut for a mohawk that reached 3cm above his scalp. Although what he wore technically counted as his Tokyo-3 school's summer uniform, there were some major alterations. An image of an eagle was woven into the back of the white shirt in golden thread, while the shirt's front side was adorned with various pins and badges, including a large badge depicting Morioh's crest sown onto the breast pocket. Shinji's black pants were immaculately pressed with creases that could cut a fly half if one landed on it. He wore a belt with a golden belt buckle that depicted a half-open eye and a simple pair of tennis shoes with bright red stripes. To Gendo, what was even more shocking than his appearance was his attitude.

"So, old man, you got a good reason for bringing me all the way out here after ditching me for so long?" Shinji suddenly flicked his head upwards towards Gendo, his expression neutral. "Or is it just so you can say hi?"

"I have need of you, Shinji." Gendo gripped his open jacket as floodlights behind him suddenly turned on. "Take a look behind you."

Shinji raised an eyebrow as he slowly pivoted on his feet in a 180-degree turn. His eyes grew wider as a massive mechanical head attached to a set of shoulders submerged in a red pool came into view. Shinji bent his left knee and splayed out his right leg behind him while raising his right palm in front of his face. Judging from the size of the head, Shinji estimated that it was for a giant robot which was at least 40 stories tall. The robot was mostly painted purple with a few green stripes all over the place, and vertical fins rose out of the robot's hunched shoulders. Instead of a human-like head with a straight neck, the head almost seemed feral and dragon-like with eyes at the sides and a massive horn on top. The fact that the neck was almost 45-degrees compared to the shoulders added to the robot's feral and **「** **menacing** **」** nature. Shinji could practically see dark waves washing off the robot as he admired the thing with a sense of horror.

"Dad, I appreciate the gift and all that." Shinji called out even as he kept his odd lean. "But one: my birthday was about a month ago, and two: doesn't a robot like this come with a remote?"

"I could do without the sarcasm, Shinji. What you are looking at is no mere toy. It is Evangelion Unit 01, the greatest war machine constructed in human history." Gendo said coldly as he went from gripping his jacket to gripping the handrail in front of him while leaning forward. "There isn't a remote, by the way. You'll be going into the thing and piloting it against the Angel."

"You do realize I don't have a driver's license or any training, right?" Shinji said as he straightened himself and turned around to face Gendo. "How am I supposed fight that Angel or kaiju or whateverthehellyoucallit if I can't even drive a car?"

"It seems the Third Child is quite hostile towards you, Commander." An old man with a head full of gray hair whispered in Gendo's ear. "Should we…?"

"Bring her, Vice Commander Fuyutsuki." Gendo said in his usual emotionless tone. "Perhaps this should get him to be more cooperative."

"Reconfigure Unit One for the first child!" Ritsuko Akagi called out as various techs scrambled to their stations while Fuyutsuki related instructions into a hand-held radio.

Soon enough, a medical orderly came into the room along with a gurney that had an IV bag mounted on a rack. The slender girl on the gurney was what caught Shinji's eye. She had light, chin-length blue hair, bright red eyes, and wore a white sleeveless skin-tight outfit with the number "00" stenciled on the front. The clothing reminded Shinji of a wet suit. Shinji would have found her attractive, if it wasn't for the fact that she was clearly in pain and had bandages on her arms, around her head, and over one of her eyes.

 _She looks around my age, so what's she doing here?_ Shinji wondered as the orderly removed the IV needle from her left arm. _No, don't tell me they're sending her out there! Dad, you…_

Before Shinji could finish his thought, the entire facility shook with a massive rumble which threw the girl off the gurney. The supporting struts for one of the light fixtures overhead snapped, sending the massive lamp plummeting down towards Shinji's head. Shinji noticed the strange shadow growing beneath his feet and quickly looked up towards the deadly debris headed in his direction. Even though the lamp was falling too quickly for Shinji to form any conscious thought, he quickly stepped to the side to get out of the way, even though the impact of the lamp against the ground would have sent glass and metal shards flying at everyone around the lamp and cause Shinji and others serious injuries. At the same time Shinji moved, his survival instincts, along with his subconscious frustrations, kicked into overdrive and caused a round, insect-like being to flash into existence right above him.

The strange creature, which was slightly bigger than Shinji's head, resembled a ladybug with a pitch-black shell and yellow spots on top. The creature's head, if it had one, nestled deep within a hole at the front of the shell, with bright red eyes peering out of the hole. The creature drifted upwards towards the falling lamp, and with a subconscious command from Shinji, changed the colour of the spots to red. The lamp made contact with the creature, wrapping itself around the tough carapace. Any debris that would have broken off by the impact was instead pulled towards the carapace, preventing any stray missiles from hitting the people below. The creature then drifted towards the ground in an attempt to place the lamp gently on the surface, but Shinji noticed that various wires, lights, and other looser items seemed to be attracted towards the creature as well. Without even thinking, Shinji ordered the creature to change the spots back to yellow, and the ceiling fixtures became still again.

"What the hell was that?" Shigeru Aoba asked while the other staff wondered the same thing. "How the hell did that lamp stop in mid-air like that?"

 _Guess they can't see the Stand that did it. Things are going to get interesting with another Stand user around._ Misato thought as she surveyed the damage. _I wonder if the Commander knows._

As soon as the broken lamp was set on the floor, Shinji rushed towards the girl's side and knelt down beside her.

"Are you OK?" Shinji asked. "Don't tell me you're seriously going to pilot that thing."

"It's the Commander's orders." The girl replied weakly. "I have to pilot the Eva."

The girl weakly tried to get up while gasping for air, but quickly fell back down as Shinji caught her before she could hit the ground. While in his arms, the girl started coughing like a late-stage lung cancer patient. Soon enough, she hacked up a blood that stained her white suit.

 _Dad, what the hell happened to you?_ Shinji thought as he held the girl. _There's no way I'm going to let this girl go out there._

When the girl stopped coughing, he helped her get back onto the gurney. Her breathing relaxed considerably as she laid back down. Meanwhile, Shinji turned towards Gendo' s direction with a neutral face, but with a fire burning in his eyes.

"All right, dad. I'll do it." Shinji said as he put his open left palm in front of his face while pointed towards Gendo with his right hand. "But I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this so that poor girl there doesn't have to."

"Good." Gendo smiled. "Doctor Akagi, please prepare the Third Child for embarkation."

"Come this way." Ritsuko gestured Shinji to follow her towards the Eva Unit. "You're going to need to take off all your pins first, though."

[=======]

 _Man, that Angel only looks a bit less freaky from here._ Shinji thought as the Evangelion Unit 01 arrived on the surface after being transported by a giant elevator. The Angel, or "Sachiel" as the NERV staff dubbed it, had a roughly humanoid shape with broad shoulders covered by bone, unusually long arms and legs, and as an external ribcage wrapped around a glowing red orb. Its original bird-like face was cracked and pushed off to the side after a failed attempt to stop the creature with an N2 mine. The Angel's new face, which as more or less a circle with two red eyeholes, stared at the newly arrived Eva Unit **「** **menacingly** **」** while Shinji also stared it down, waiting for each other to make the first move.

"Pilot Ikari," Gendo's voice came over the radio. "Engage the enemy."

Slowly and surely, Shinji began to step forward while the Angel did the same thing. Suddenly, Sachiel sprinted forward while extending a long sharp piece of bone from its right arm in an attempt to impale the Eva. Shinji simply waited for the Angel to get closer before sidestepping \ grabbing the bony lance with the Eva's left hand, and following up with several well-placed elbow blows to the creature's face. The Angel's face began to crack under Shinji's relent less assault.

 _Guess those schoolyard fights came in handy._ Shinji reminisced about his stand against the bullies who made fun of him for more or less being an orphan. _This is easier than I thought_.

Suddenly, Shinji felt a sharp pain at his side. When he shifted the Eva's gaze towards the mecha's left flank, he realized that he was impaled by a second, far sharper, bony lance that came from Sachiel's left arm. Before Shinji could do anything, both bony lances started giving off a purple glow, which set off burning sensations in Shinji's left hand and his insides. Shinji screamed in pain as he let go of the right lance and started to twist back and forth, sometimes even moving the Angel the lances were attached to.

"Pilot's sync ratio is reaching 75%!" Ibuki called out from her console. "The Third Child's pain level is only to get worse from this point!"

 _Oh, no._ Misato thought as she stared wide-eyed at the screen while fiddling with her cross pendant with both her hands. _At this rate, Shinji's going to collapse, and we won't have another pilot ready in time._

"Ikari! There's a progressive knife in the left shoulder pylon!" Ritsuko called out. "Try to use that to cut the Eva loose!"

Heeding Doctor Akagi's instructions, grimaced as he pressed a button which opened a storage compartment on the left shoulder pylon. He then took out a massive serrated knife which resembled a standard-issue JSSDF combat knife and started hacking away at the bony lance stuck inside Eva Unit 01. Sachiel roared as it moved its right bony lance like a piston and used it to land repeated strikes on the Eva Unit's face. Shinji continued to scream that was more rage at that point than pain and continued to hack away at the left lance despite the repeated pounding he felt on his head. Soon enough cracks appeared in the bone, which continued to grow until the piece of bone finally broke off, losing the glow in the process. Shinji yelled again as he swiftly twisted and smacked the Angel on the side with the long piece of the bone that jutted out from the Eva. In response, the Angel let loose a massive energy beam from its eyes that completely engulfed Evangelion Unit 01 before Shinji could have time to react.

"No…" Maya held back tears while the rest of the NERV staff held similar shocked expressions. "It's all over."

"Wait!" Misato called out. "Look at the smoke."

On screen, the silhouette of Evangelion Unit 01 could be seen proudly standing through the smoke with a shimmering orange energy shield arrayed in a hexagonal pattern. Behind the Eva, a massive cross-shaped scar was branded on the surface of Tokyo-3. The Eva was about to pull out the bony lance before Misato stopped him.

"Shinji, wait!" Misato called out. "If you pull it out, the Eva Unit will continue to lose LCL until it's no longer functional!"

 _Right! Basic first aid, with LCL being the equivalent of the Eva's blood and all._ Shinji slapped his head as he remembered Ritsuko's quick explanation on the nature of the reddish breathable liquid. _Better cut off the long end then._

In attempt to buy more time, Shinji started running around the battlefield while hacking off the bony lance. Every time the Angel would have caught up to him, Shinji quickly darted off to the side while continuing to chip away at the offending foreign object, ignoring a strange snapping sound that happened when cracks first appeared on the bone stuck in the Eva. Soon, he was able to carve off the long end and held it in his right hand like a sword.

"Shinji, the power cable came off while the Angel chased you around!" Misato called out again. "You only have 4 minutes and 50 seconds of power remaining."

"Damn it!" Shinji yelled in frustration as he threw the bony lance at the Angel, hoping to impale it. "This just isn't my day!"

Shinji's attack failed as the improvised dart was smacked to the ground by the Angel, who then rapidly pumped up the muscles in its arms and legs before rushing forward and pinning Shinji against a massive steel barrier. It then used its remaining lance to keep striking Shinji's head.

 _Dammitdammitdammit!_ Shinji though as he tried to punch off the Angel to no avail. _Get the hell off of me, you freak!_

Soon, the Angel's strikes created a crack in the Eva's head armor, which translated to Shinji feeling like his head was going to split open. It was at that moment when he noticed that the strange creature he somehow summoned earlier was by his side again.

 _How long has that thing been here?_ Shinji thought as the Angel continued its strikes. _Maybe I could use it to beat that Angel._

Shinji ordered the creature to travel outside the Evangelion while continuing to try to push the Angel off. The creature phased through the Eva's armor plates, and stopped in front of the Angel's face. The Angel seemed oblivious to the insect-like, thing floating in front of it.

 _So it can't see my_ ** _「_** ** _pet_** ** _」_** _then._ Shinji thought. _Let's see what I can do with it._

"Cranial armour integrity at 40% and dropping!" Maya called out from her readouts. "Remaining battery life: four minutes."

 _Wait, what's that?_ Misato thought as she looked at her own tactical display. _Looks like Shinji called out his Stand again._

The Stand drifted down between the Angel's legs and behind it towards the abandoned street. With a silent command from Shinji, the spots on the creature turned red. Soon, debris started flying towards the insectoid Stand's black carapace.

 _The thing attracted that fallen lamp earlier._ Shinji thought as he put up a token resistance to conserve his strength and focus on using his Stand. _Maybe I can use the_ ** _「_** ** _pet's_** ** _」_** _gravity to pry this thing off of me._

While smaller debris were attracted towards the Stand, with any pieces that landed on the spots being impaled by spikes coming out of those spots, the Angel would not budge and continued its assault.

"Cranial armour integrity at 20%!" Maya called again. "Remaining battery life: three minutes."

 _Damn it! This isn't working!_ Shinji thought. _I gotta somehow make the force of attraction stronger. Ok, Shinji, just like Old Ben from that movie said: "Use the Force."_

Shinji's mental efforts only made the creature grow in size, while his headache got even worse from the combination of the Angel's assaults and the spiritual strain of using a Stand in these conditions.

 _Damn it, it's only getting bigger, not stronger…wait a minute._ Shinji thought as he focused on making the Stand grow bigger. _That's right! That science class back in Morioh! The larger a planet's mass, the stronger the gravitational pull!_

"Cranial armour integrity at 5%!" Maya called again, this time seemingly holding back a sob. "Remaining battery life: two minutes."

 _Come on, buddy. Get bigger!_ Shinji pushed on with his mental efforts despite the intensifying headache. _Just a little more and we'll show this bastard what for!_

Soon enough, entire buildings collapsed around Shinji's Stand, which was now about the size of a JSSDF Type 10 tank. The Angel began to feel the Stand's effects and collapsed backwards on top of the growing pile of debris.

 _I get what Shinji is doing now!_ A light bulb went off inside Misato's head. _By increasing the size of the Stand, he's building up enough force to pull the Angel off of him so he can go back on the offensive!_

"Angel has ceased its assault! Cranial armour integrity at 0.5%" Maya called out with relief in her voice. "One minute of battery life remaining!"

Seizing the opportunity, Shinji dismissed the Stand before it could pull the steel barrier on top of him and tacked the semi-downed Angel. The remaining minute was a haze as he felt himself and Eva becoming one and pounded on the Angel. He somehow felt the red orb at the center of its torso was an inviting target, so he focused his attention on that. The Eva Unit gripped the Angel's external ribcage and tore it off the its body, spilling large amount of purplish-blue blood in the process. In a fit of rage, Shinji/Unit 01 jammed two halves of the severed ribcage into the orb, creating cracks on the surface of the object the disembodied bone was supposed to protect. After getting past a strange binding sensation, Shinji widened his mouth and felt the Eva do the same thing. Then, he bit into the red orb, spilling a strange red liquid in the process. Sachiel, sensing its time was up, lit up its eyes and pinned the Eva against itself. A massive explosion soon enveloped the site, causing the Angel and Unit 01 to disappear from view.

"Data feed lost!" Shigeru called out. "Unit 01 status is unknown!"

 _Don't tell me that Angel took Shinji with him._ Misato thought as she bit her lips before she gave her next order. "Dispatch observation drones towards the site of the explosion to determine status!"

Several toaster-sized quad-copters equipped with high-definition video cameras flew out of miniature hangars hidden below Tokyo-3's roads and flew towards the explosion site. After getting past the smoke screen, the drones captured the image of Eva Unit 01 slumped on top of the rubble mound, its surface armour completely melted off, exposing the metallic skull and semi-organic eyes. The mouth bindings were broken off, and burned traces of the red liquid can be seen on its jaws. Although the drones could not detect the extent of the damage because of the Eva's prone position, it could see hints of the heavily charred and melted frontal armour. As for Sachiel, the Angel is nowhere to be seen, with the only remnant being the discarded bone lance laying several hundred meters away.

"Commence search and rescue operations!" Misato called out as the control room erupted in cheers, except for the elder Ikari and Fuyutsuki. "Current priority is pilot's retrieval!"

 _Did I do it?_ Shinji thought as he opened his eyes, staring at a blank viewscreen. _Man, that Angel was one ugly mother…_

Before he could finish the thought, Shinji was hit by pure darkness.

 **Two Days Later…**

 _An unfamiliar ceiling._ Shinji thought as he opened his eyes weakly before passing out again. _This definitely isn't my room in Morioh._

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed two faces on the sides of his field of view. One was the blue-haired girl from earlier, while the other was Misato, the nice young woman who picked him up from the burnt husk of a SPW gas station and served as his guide throughout the battle with the Angel.

"Oh, you're awake! Thank God!" Misato reached down to hug him.

"Major Katsuragi, perhaps it is not the best idea to hold the Third Child so tightly." The pretty blue-haired girl said quietly and calmly. "You could further aggravate his injuries."

"Right. Sorry, Rei. I was just happy he woke up, that's all." Misato smiled and scratched the back of her head as she sat back down on her chair. "So, Shinji, how're you feeling?"

"Better, if you don't count the concussion." Shinji said as he sat up in his bed. "How long was I out for anyway?"

"Two days." Rei said. "The cause of your coma is a mystery to the medical staff, but we think we know why."

"The creature you summoned is called a Stand. As far as we know, Rei and I are the only two people in NERV who can see it." Misato picked up from Rei. "Trying to change the Stand's size causes tremendous mental strain, which only gets worse when the Stand becomes bigger. The strain of that first battle must have caused your mind to overload and shut down as a safety measure."

"That explains the killer headache I got when I was trying to make it grow." Shinji said. "So, what's going to happen now? Do I get to go back to Morioh? Or does the old man still need me?"

"Unfortunately, you can't go back yet. That Angel was the first of many to come, and we need Eva pilots like you to protect this city." Misato said. "As much as your father may be unpleasant, Shinji, he does have weight of the world on his shoulders, and I hope you can see that in time."

"Well, I guess I might as well stay, since the old man is probably going to pull me back here anyway." Shinji sighed as he turned towards the blue-haired girl. "Sorry, I never got your name."

"Ayanami. Rei Ayanami." Rei replied. "I'm the First Child and the pilot of Eva Unit 00."

"Nice to meet you, Rei." Shinji said as he shook her hand. "So, when can I leave this hospital? And where am I going to live anyway?"

[=======]

"Damn, cuz. I can't believe you were the one who took down that freak in Tokyo-3!" Josuke said over the phone. "And the fact that you got your Stand? Wow!"

"Tell me about it, cousin Josuke." Shinji spoke into his phone at Misato's apartment. "I don't know what's more bizarre, that I'm now a mecha pilot like those shows I watched or that I have my very own spiritual guardian with gravity powers."

"You got a name for your Stand yet?" Josuke asked.

"Yeah, I think I do." Shinji replied. "My Stand's name is Black Hole Sun."

[=======]

 **Little Shinji in Morioh**

"Yo, Angelo!" Josuke said was he walked past the strange face-shaped rock with Shinji in tow.

"Where are we going, cousin?" Shinji asked meekly as he followed along on Morioh's streets.

"We're going to meet a few good pals of mine." Josuke smiled as he replied. "I'm sure they'd be thrilled to meet you!"

Soon enough, Josuke and Shinji reached a restaurant with an open patio. Three people sat at one of the tables. The first one was a tall man who was busy biting into a hamburger, and he wore a t-shirt that said "Morioh Fire & Rescue" along with cargo pants with the world "Billion" stitched on the sides. The man had scars on his face that formed an "X" pattern as well as hair dyed silver on the sides of his head and a small pompadour on top. The second man was sipping from a tall glass of milkshake through a straw, and he wore a simple collared shirt with the letter "E" on the left breast pocket, jeans, and sneakers. He was very short and had silver hair. The third person was a young woman with long black hair, a shapely body, and a feminine, attractive face. She was sipping through a straw the same glass of milkshake as the second man while wrapping her left arm around his shoulder. She was much taller than her lover and wore a plain green sundress that hugged her figure and a pair of sandals.

"Hey, hey! Look who's back in town!" The first man looked up with a grin and dropped his burger on the plate. "Long time no see, Josuke!"

"Good to see you again, Okuyasu!" Josuke smiled as the two got into a bear hug. "Good to see you too, Koichi. Yukako."

"Looks like the old gang's back together." Koichi said as he stood up to greet Josuke. "Say, who's the kid with you?"

"Everyone, this is my little cousin, Shinji." Josuke said as he sat down on an empty chair while motioning for Shinji to do the same thing. "Shinji, these are my two best friends, Okuyasu Nijimura and Koichi Hirose. Plus here's Koichi's girlfriend Yukako Yamagishi."

"Fiancée, actually." Yukako said as she pointed towards herself. "Koichi and I got engaged last month!

"I was about to get to that, Yukako dear." Koichi blushed as he smiled nervously. "It's nice to meet you, Shinji."

"S-same h-h-here, M-mr. H-hirose." Shinji said as he looked down towards his lap.

"Don't mind him, Koichi." Josuke said. "He's just a little shy."

"Dude, he's so adorable." Okuyasu said. "Come on, buddy. Peek-a-boo!"

"WAAAA! SCARY YAKUZA MAN!" Shinji screamed as he dived under the table.

 _This is just plain great._ Josuke thought as he tried to comfort Shinji while trying to explain that Okuyasu was a firefighter, not a thug. _It's going to be real hard trying to convince him to break out of his shell._

[=======]

Stand Name: Black Hole Sun - Act 1

User: Shinji Ikari

Power: D

Speed: E

Range: A

Endurance: A

Precision: C

Development Potential: A

Black Hole Sun takes the appearance of a round creature most closely resembling a ladybug. The outer shell is coloured black with several gold spots with two red eyes peering from within a hole at the "front" of the shell. The user is able to activate or deactivate Black Hole Sun's power, which is an intense gravitational field (exact strength unknown) that affects all around it except the user, who has no control over what gets attracted by the Stand or the direction of the gravitational field. If the gravitational field is active, the spots become red. Similar to a planet, the strength of the field is inversely proportional to distance from the Stand. The size of the Stand also affects the strength of the field. Once an object makes contact with the Stand's surface, spikes would erupt from the spots. Although slow moving, the Stand's carapace is capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of punishment.

A/N: Reviews are more than welcome.


	3. Chapter 2 - Brand New Days

A/N: I'll be honest; I'm starting summer school this week, so I can't guarantee a consistent update schedule from this point onwards. I will go on a two-month hiatus starting in mid-June because of some work-related issues. That being said, I'll try to have 2 or 3 chapters published before the hiatus, and I'll get back to working on the fic when I come back. Now, onto chapter 2.

Disclaimer: I do not own JoJo's Bizarre Adventure or Evangelion. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure belongs to Hirohiko Araki and Lucky Land Communications, while Evangelion belongs to Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara.

* * *

Gendo Ikari had always hated these virtual conference calls with the rest of SEELE. Although he nominally went along with SEELE's goal of achieving Third Impact, he had entirely different goals as well as methods of doing so. Unlike the old buffoons and his late father who talked about Instrumentality and human evolution, Gendo just cared about using Third Impact to meet his sorely-missed wife again. Everything he had done in the previous decade, from the abandonment of his only son to the takeover of NERV, was simply another stepping stone towards that goal.

Although Gendo did not particularly enjoy the meeting or any of the other SEELE members, it was the mysterious thirteenth member of the committee that irked him the most. The man, if he even existed, started appearing at the meetings about 10 years after the second impact. He also had a habit of mysteriously not turning up at certain meetings and never offering any explanation when he turned up the next time. In fact, Gendo did not even know what the person sounded like.

"I show up to all the meetings acting like I'm contributing something all the time, and the old men are still suspicious!" Gendo had confided to Fuyutsuki in the past after more than a few beers during happy hour. "This new asshole just shows up out of the middle of nowhere, doesn't make a single peep, and runs off more than a few times! How the **fuck** have the old men not kick him out yet is beyond me!"

Number 13 showed up this time, and is as silent as usual. In the meantime, the Russian representative was giving Gendo an earful.

"The Third Child's behavior was completely different from what we intended, Ikari!" The old man was getting irritated. "How can you be so sure the scenario will not suffer any delays as a result of this variation?"

"Gentlemen, I still coaxed him to pilot the Eva Unit and go into battle, did I not?" Gendo reassured the crowd. "Even with his current attitude, I have him firmly under my control. This variation in The Scenario is ultimately meaningless in the long run."

"Do I need to remind you that we are on a strict timetable for Human Instrumentality?" Gendo was wishing the monoliths had volume control by this point. "If any delays are caused by your overlook of possible risks, the responsibility lies solely on your head!"

"Please, your shouting is causing us more of a headache than the so called 'variation' in The Scenario." Even Chairman Lorenz was getting fed up with the Russian's shouting by this point. "After all, we have complete trust in Ikari's ability to turn the flow of events in our favour. You _are_ capable of working towards Instrumentality from your end, right? Or are our collective trust in you misplaced, _Ikari_?"

"Of course not, Chairman. The Scenario will proceed exactly according to prophecy. I will make sure of that." Gendo covered for himself. "I assure The Committee that there will be no threats to our plans."

"Excellent. With us extending control over the world's governments earlier this millennium as well as Robert Speedwagon's **「** **disposal** **」** back in the 'fifties, it is unlikely we will encounter any major resistance." Lorenz said. "Regardless, we cannot afford to be too careless, especially not with the Speedwagon Foundation's recent activities as well as rumours regarding the American president. Hopefully our agent inside the foundation can shed light on the issue soon enough. Now, moving on with today's agenda…"

 _Only five minutes into the meeting?_ Gendo quickly scanned his watch. _This is going to be a long day._

* * *

 _Tick._

"Ah _,_ that was the best beer ever!" Misato slammed the newly empty beer can onto the table (her fifth for that meal) and quickly dug into her instant microwave dinner. "I gotta tell you, Shinji, nothing beats a nice home-cooked meal and an ice-cold beer after a long day at work!"

 _Tock._

Meanwhile, Shinji slowly stirred his portion of the strange mixture with the plastic fork in his right hand while resting his left cheek with his other hand propped on the table by the elbow.

 _Tick._

Misato quickly glanced up at Shinji as she wolfed down her meal. As if slowly realizing she was missing her car keys after leaving the office, Misato slowed her eating until coming to a complete halt, then she looked up at him.

 _Tock._

Meanwhile, Shinji continued to lazily stir his food, which was supposed to be chicken teriyaki according to the box, but was barely recognizable in reality. He paid Misato no heed as she stopped eating and started looking at him.

 _Tick._

"Is something wrong with the food, Shinji?" Misato asked as she leaned forward in her chair. "You haven't had a bite at all."

"No, it's not that, Miss Misato." Shinji mumbled as he looked up. "It's just that…I'm still trying to take it all in."

"What do you mean?"

"First dad abandons me and makes me go live with a relative I've never seen before. I go through some bad things in the new town because it's just so hard to adjust when you have your mom's death plus your dad ditching you." Shinji started complaining as he raised his hands in the air. "Then, just when I get used to living in Morioh and making some friends, dad just pulls me back here and expects me to go into that freaky robot without even saying hi!"

"I'm sure…"

"Now I can't even leave because there's not just one, but several more of those Angel things coming!" Shinji yelled. "What happens when I die or get crippled instead of just getting knocked out? What the hell would that say about the old man's parenting skills?"

"Shinji…"

"You know what pisses me off even more? The fact that good old dad was willing to make a crippled girl go out to face that thing." Shinji lowered his volume. "I don't know what's worse, sending that girl to go out or using that girl to make me go out."

"Come on…"

"I don't know what happened to him, but that's definitely not the father I remembered." Shinji said. "This man is just a bully and a thug."

"Shinji, don't you DARE talk about your father and superior officer like that!" Misato suddenly stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "You should be at least be grateful that you can see him again!"

"Why should I? He's the one that abandoned me than dragged me back here! He's the one who threatened to send an injured girl to her death!" Shinji stood up as well and stared at Misato in her eyes. "And wait, superior officer?"

"It's all in that information package I gave you, remember? Then again, the battle probably knocked all that out of your head. You father is in charge of a global organization who is the last and possibly the only effective line of defense against the Angels." Misato calmed down slightly. "His responsibility isn't just towards you anymore, but to the entire planet. If the Angels breach the GeoFront, it's all over. You can say he literally has the weight of the entire world on his shoulders."

"Just like Atlas." Shinji muttered as he recalled one of his lessons in Morioh.

"Yeah, you can say that. Just like Atlas" Misato relaxed considerably and sat back down. "Sorry for getting angry all of a sudden earlier. I don't really have a high tolerance for people who insult their fathers."

"Why?" The question instinctively came from Shinji's lips.

"My father died trying to save me." Misato shifted her gaze to a new can of beer she just picked up.

"I'm sorry. I should have brought up…"

"No, it's fine. Not talking about it makes it worse, but it's a story for another day." Misato looked at Shinji again before opening the can. "Let's just finish the meal and head to sleep early. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Why's that?"

"Orientation and meetings, Shinji." Misato rolled her eyes. "Orientation and meetings."

* * *

 **The Next Day**

 _JUST. KILL. ME. NOW._ The thought grew stronger and stronger in Shinji's mind as an extremely bored Misato led him on a tour throughout the NERV complex. Although Shinji was initially impressed by the high-tech equipment in the operations center and Evangelion launch bays, which were their first two stops, his excitement quickly died down when he realized that most of NERV was running on pre-Second Impact technology and, in the occasional corner, duct-tape.

"Due to most of the budget being allocated towards the operation and maintenance of the Eva Units, NERV leadership has determined that it would be prudent to prioritize the allocation of newer technology to departments directly related to the Eva Units, with the rest of NERV being upgraded based on need and budget availability." Misato recited from the notebook in her hand. "Appearances can be quite deceiving, since departments with older equipment can still function and are perfectly compatible with NERV's state-of-the-art command-and-control system and the MAGI supercomputers. NERV is perfectly capable of countering the Angel threat even with these equipment, which will be replaced in due time."

Soon enough, the duo reached the last stop: the central cafeteria. Judging from the bright, clean appearance, wide open spaces, and the sheer number of commercial food vendors, the cafeteria was one of the places where NERV spared no expenses on.

"Staff morale is extremely important to NERV, which is why NERV spared no expenses on the staff dining area. A well-fed employee is a happy employee. And this concludes our tour. I hope you enjoyed your introduction to NERV, and that you'll join us for a refreshing lunch at our state-of-the-art cafeteria." Misato said after suppressing several yawns in the process. "Well, we finally got that over with. Normally, we have someone assigned to do these tours, but I figured I'd show you around personally since I'm directly responsible for you and all that. Now, let's get some lunch. We still have more work to do after lunch."

"Like what?"

"Oh, you know, meeting the important people like your dad and Vice Commander Fuyutsuki, sizing you for your plugsuit, plus getting you set up for online learning."

"Wait, WHAT?"

"Come on, Shinji, did you honestly expect this tour to be your only introduction to NERV?" Misato chuckled. "We still need to cover NERV's history, safety information, code of ethics, as well as the user manual for the Eva Units."

* * *

 **Meanwhile, in Moscow**

"Agent Kaji, come on in. Have a seat." Said an old decrepit Russian Man as he waved his guest into the old apartment. "I trust you have what The Committee is looking for?"

"Of course." Ryoji Kaji replied as he shut the door behind him and settled into a comfortablelooking chair. "A lot of information regarding the Speedwagon Foundation's research as well as possible ties between them and President Valentine."

"Excellent. These files should be able to prove both the American President and the Foundation is plotting against us." The old man coughed as he placed the folders on a writing surface build into his wheelchair. "It will allow us to plan our next moves in order to neutralize any threats against Instrumentality. We can start by feeding certain 'theories' regarding them to the media outlets under our control, sully their reputation a little bit. How goes things with the Second Child?"

"She hasn't been my ward for the past few years, sir." Kaji replied as he stretched his legs. "The Italian Major seems to have taken good care of her, better than I ever could."

"I suppose so, but you are still aware of The Committee's objections during that time, are you not?" The old archaeologist said. "Having her under the care of anyone other than you could have grave consequences on The Scenario."

"I assure you as well as the rest of The Committee that I have been monitoring her and her guardian ever since she left my care." Kaji fibbed. "She poses no threat to SEELE's plans."

"Very well, then. I shall take your word for it, for now. Just remember that the consequences of deceiving us is severe, to say the list." The old Russian coughed as he moved the wheelchair around the cramped living room. "Now, is there anything else you wish to discuss with me? If not, then I request to be left alone to examine these documents in greater detail."

"There is one thing, actually. Something that a collector of your caliber would love to have." Kaji reached for his bag. "When I was spying on the Speedwagon Foundation, I found some very interesting artifacts."

The old man's previously dull eyes lit up for the first time in a few decades as Kanji handed him a flash drive and an intricately carved mask made stone with thick lips and long, sharp fangs hanging off the edges of the mouth.

"This is a Stone Mask, an otherwise unknown Central American artifact. Unknown, because every mask that was ever found is either destroyed or is in the custody of the Speedwagon Foundation." Kaji explained. "The USB key I just handed you consists of all the data available on these masks, including copies of the original research notes dating back to the late 19th century."

"Fascinating." Was all the old SEELE member could say.

"Yes, indeed." Kaji got up again and headed for the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to head to Japan. Gendo Ikari hates to be kept waiting."

The old man ignored him as he caressed the mask with his fingers. As a collector of strange and occult items, these stone masks have always interested him not only because of their rarity, but the dark rumours surrounding these artifacts; rumours of eternal life and god-like powers, with only a small drop blood as the price. After caressing the mask for untold hours, he summoned a servant to make him a quick meal, then rolled his wheelchair over to his computer.

 _Valentine and The Foundation can wait._ He thought. _This is far more interesting. I may not need to rely on the promise of Instrumentality to escape this old, broken body after all._

* * *

 **Tokyo-3, Later that night**

After finishing off their meal, Shinji volunteered to wash the dishes and clean off the table, tasks Misato was glad to hand off to him. Instead of just heading off to her room, however, Misato elected to sit in the dining room and watch. If Shinji noticed her there, he did not care as he went about his tasks, something Aunt Tomoko taught him well.

"A real man is willing to help around the house." He remembered his aunt's words as he put the dishes on the drying rack.

"Great work, Shinji." Misato said as she got up. Shinji then realized that she never changed out of her uniform after they got back.

"Let's go for a ride." Misato grabbed her car keys. "I have something to show you."

Shinji simply shrugged as he followed Misato down to the apartment complex's parking garage and into her car. From there, Misato drove to a path that seemingly led to the city's outskirts. After a few minutes, Shinji realized that they weren't going out, but _up_. Soon enough, they reached their destination: the highest point overlooking Tokyo-3. The place was designed specifically for tourists or just people looking for a change in perspective, with coin-operated binoculars, several benches, and long wooden deck that stretched the entire length of the cliff they were on.

"Whew, we made it just in time." Misato said as she sat down on the bench and motioned Shinji to do the same. "Now, just kick back and prepare to be amazed."

Within a couple of minutes, a loud civil defense siren pierced through the night sky. All over the city, blast door on the surface disengaged with a series of whirls and clangs, revealing what they were protecting. Shinji's eyes widened as skyscrapers and cranes rose gracefully from within the GeoFront. The gently ascending buildings filled up the skyline and transformed the seemingly flat and wreckage-strewn town into a bustling metropolis within a span of several minutes. As soon as the buildings reached their full height, mechanical locks engaged holding them in place. The whirls and clangs made by the locks and machinery seemed like music to Misato's ears as she smiled and enjoyed the view. Shinji too could sense the beauty of the entire scene.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Shinji said as the skyline lit up with a variety of colours just as the sun fully dropped below the horizon. "I…I don't even know what else to say."

"What a beautiful Tokyo-3, but this city isn't just for looks. It's also a massive fortress designed to keep the Angels at bay." Misato said admiringly. "There is no other place as pretty as this city, not just because of the bright lights, but also because you, I, your father, and the rest of NERV are willing to lay our lives on the line for it."

"Wow, I remember when your said dad has the weight of the world on his shoulders." Shinji said in amazement. "But seeing what we're protecting is another thing entirely!"

"It's great, isn't it? That day, you went into the Eva not just to protect Rei or to obey your father, but also to protect this beautiful city and everyone who lived in it." Said Misato. "Whenever you're in doubt about why you're doing this, just remember this night."

After admiring the city's view for a few more minutes, Misato and Shinji drove back to their apartment. Shinji didn't speak to Misato the entire time, being deeply lost in thought. After they got back to the apartment, Shinji finally spoke again.

"Major Katsuragi, do you mind if I make another phone call?" Shinji asked. "I want to speak to my cousin again."

"Of course, Shinji!" Misato smiled. "And please, just Misato will do."

Shinji thanked her and picked up the phone, then dialed Josuke's home number.

"Hey, cousin? I just wanted to ask you a couple of things." Shinji said. "One, how did you end up getting along with your dad in the end? Two, what exactly was that story about protecting Morioh Mr. Trussardi kept talking about?"

* * *

 **The next day**

"And that's for putting my sister in the hospital!" A tracksuit-wearing teen yelled as his fist connected with Shinji's left cheek. To his surprise, his classmate didn't even flinch or try to deflect the fist, but took the punch head-on.

"Damn it, new kid!" Toji, according to the name emblazoned on his jacket, adopted a lunging position with his left fist raised above his right one. "Why don't you say something about yourself?"

"I had that one coming." Shinji replied curtly, ignoring the throbbing pain in his face.

"What?"

"I said: I had that one coming. I didn't even want to fight that thing, but I did it so an injured girl won't have to." Shinji hooked his thumbs into the belt loops on his pants as he shifted his weight onto his right leg, with the left leg straightened to the side. "I know I caused a lot of damage in that fight, so I'm sorry."

Toji simply roared and charged forward again, preparing to punch Shinji again, but Shinji simply caught his fist in midair and staired Toji down. Toji yelled and roared several more times trying to free his fist while grabbing onto Shinji's pin-laden shirt before a freckled schoolgirl who wore her brown hair in pigtails came over.

"Toji Suzuhara, are you getting yourself into trouble again?" The girl yelled, as Toji, Shinji, and a third glasses-wearing teen who stood on the sidelines turned to look at her.

"No…of course not, class rep!" Toji blushed as he lowered his arms and let go of Shinji. "We were…umm…we were."

"Don't lie to me! I saw you trying to pick a fight with the new kid." The class rep put her hands on her hips while leaning forward. "You better apologize to him right now, or you'll be in a world of trouble!"

Toji simply froze there looking at her for a few minutes, while Shinji wondered how a girl, even if she was a class rep, has so much influence over him. Then something clicked in his head as he remembered Koichi and Yukako.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" The girl was getting impatient. "I better have an apology from you before school starts! I'm not going anywhere until I hear it!"

"Look, new kid, I kind of overacted back there, with my sister being hurt and all. Truth is, I know that if it weren't for you, we would have all gotten killed." Toji turned towards Shinji and lowered his gaze to the ground. "The whole thing you did for that girl - It was probably Ayanami, wasn't it? – plus you just taking the punch like that, you got some serious balls, and I respect that. I'm sorry for flippin' out at you earlier; you get what I'm saying?"

"Apology accepted." Shinji smiled as he offered his hand for Toji to shake. "The name's Ikari, Shinji Ikari, and I moved here from Morioh."

"Toji Suzuhara, nice to meet ya." Toji took Shinji's hand. "That explains the badge on your shirt."

"My name's Kensuke Aida." The boy with the glasses interjected. "You can say I'm the brains to Toji's brawn."

"And I'm Hikari Horaki, and let me unofficially welcome you to Tokyo-3!" The girl shook Shinji's hand as well. "Now let's get to the classroom so you can formally introduce yourself!"

* * *

 **Little Asuka in Germany**

 **GEHIRN Research Facility, 2005**

A red-haired young girl ran through the halls of the GEHIRN medical facility, her dress fluttering in the breeze. Her face was bright with excitement as she headed for the room her mother was held in, eagerly wanting to deliver the good news. She was selected to join some kind of elite program ran jointly by GEHIRN and the Luftwaffe that would turn her into an elite pilot of some sort as well as fast-tracking her through school and granting her a university degree.

"Mama, mama! They chose me! I'm an elite pilot now! I'm the best in the whole world! I promised to keep this secret, but I'll only tell you, mama!" Asuka Langley Soryu rehearsed the speech in her mind as she turned onto the hall on which her mom's room was located. "Everybody is so nice to me now! I don't feel lonely anymore! I'm okay now, even without papa. Look at me! Look at me, mama!"

Soon, she reached her mother's room. In a fit of excitement, she quickly twisted the doorknob and knocked the door open with her tiny shoulders, ignoring the fact that the lights were completely out and the strange coppery smell in the room.

"Look, mama!" She yelled. "Mama?"

Asuka's bright blue eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness with help from light from the hallway, and she noticed that her mother was not in bed. Asuka looked around the room, and noticed her mother hunched in the corner with her back turned towards her.

"Ma-mama?" Asuka still kept her big smile as she slowly stepped towards her mother. "I-I'm a pilot now…"

"Asuka, honey." Her mother turned her head, her voice weak. "Come here."

"Mama?" Asuka halted in her tracks, a few paces away from her mama.

"Come over, dear." Her mother slowly turned towards Asuka. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

As her mother turned to face her, Asuka could see that her mother was even more disheveled than the last time she visited. Her long blonde hair, the envy of many women in the past, was oily and clumped in raggedy strands, and her face was narrow due to malnutrition. What was even worse was her white hospital gown, now stained with blood. Looking down, Asuka soon found the source. Her mother carved a deep bloody line down the length of her left arm with what appeared to be a strange arrow. Blood flowed freely from the wound, exposing the bone below and staining the carpet she sat on.

"Come to heaven with me, Asuka." Her mother said firmly as she ripped out the arrow from her arm, spilling blood onto Asuka's face in the process. Asuka didn't even have time to scream as her mother stabbed the arrow into Asuka's stomach. The red-haired girl fell backwards with a loud scream; her entire world feeling like it was burning, even more painful than the wound in her stomach. She drifted in and out of consciousness, not knowing how long she had been doing so. Asuka remembered hearing a loud thud as she felt a wet sensation on her back and her mother's ragged breathing slowly becoming silent. After what seemed like an eternity, she heard footsteps in the room.

"Dr Soryu is dead. Second Child is in serious condition but stable." A voiced said. "We've also located the missing arrow."

With a sharp gasp, Asuka bolted upright in her bed. A quick glance at her bedside clock revealed the time being 0405. Cold sweat ran down her entire body as she took deep breaths, trying to calm her heart rate.

 _Ok, just like Coach taught you._ Asuka made a "khoooh" sound as she remembered her training. _Sendo calms the heart._

As her heart rate slowed, her palms emitted a warm yellow glow and bright sparks. Soon, Asuka was calm again, and she put her palms over her face.

 _Shit, I've been crying in my sleep again._ Asuka thought. _I better talk to him in the morning._

A/N: I'm thinking of changing the story's rating to M, just because both JoJo and Evangelion can get pretty gruesome in its violence. Should I do it? As always, reviews are welcome.


	4. Chapter 3 - It's Raining Angel!

A/N: Well, here it is: chapter 3. Hope everyone enjoys it! I think I'll keep my story T for now. Onto reviews I've gotten...

Mugiwara N0 Luffy: Your idea does sound pretty neat, and it would definitely add to the antics in Tokyo-3. The main issue I have with the idea is that I don't think Josuke would be willing to just walk away from his medical career in Morioh.

Guest: Glad to hear it! One of the reasons I wrote this story is basically "There's no EvaxJJBA stuff. Why the hell not?"

Dead Pann: Thank you for your commentary. It's always good to have someone pick up various parts of my story and add their thoughts to it. As for SEELE, somethings never change even across universes. Take Kaworu for example. I'll definitely consider your criteria for the M rating when I write future chapters.

* * *

While Shinji was at school, Misato was busy with a presentation she put together explaining NERV's plight, for the lack of a better word.

"As the battle with the Third Angel shows, their destructive capabilities have surpassed previous estimates." Misato explained as a picture of the mangled Unit 01 was shown on screen. "Eva Unit 01 sustained severe damage during the battle and will require extensive repairs to resume operational status."

Misato then switched to the next slide, showing Rei's white-and-yellow Eva Unit 00.

"In the worst case scenario of an immediate Angel attack, Unit 00 is the only Eva unit that is capable of responding to the threat. At its current state, valuable time will be lost in performing emergency repairs on Unit 00. Cannibalization of Unit 01 may be required to fully restore Unit 00's functionality." Misato continued. "This will obviously incur severe setbacks on Unit 01's repair progress. By using the battle with the Third Angel as an example and accounting for the First Child's experience, Unit 00 would still sustain severe damage and may be out of commission."

The screen then showed a maintenance timeline for the Eva Units.

"There would be no guarantee the Angels will refrain from attacking Tokyo-3 while both units are out of commission. Should the unthinkable happen, we will be completely defenseless, and even complete cannibalization may not be sufficient to restore a unit to working order." Misato said, restraining her memories of the Second Impact. "Should that happen, Third Impact and the complete destruction of humanity are inevitable."

To illustrate Misato's point, the screen switched to a hellish image of a demolished Tokyo-3 with red skies and oceans. Misato said nothing and simply lowered her head in a moment of remembrance for her dead father, as well as to let the image sink in for her audience. Having collected herself after a brief moment of sorrow, she continued.

"In conclusion, my advice as the head of the tactical department is to increase the size of the Evangelion contingent in Tokyo-3 by transfer existing pilots world-wide as well as their Eva Units to this location. The infrastructure we have at present can provide for the holding and maintenance of up to six units." The screen showed an image of several hands put on top of each other. "This will ensure at least two units are ready to respond to an Angel attack at any given time while others are undergoing maintenance and repairs. Another benefit of this arrangement is the minimization of the level disruption on the daily lives of the pilots. Since the defense of Tokyo-3 against the Angels falls squarely on our shoulders, we must spare no efforts or expenses on our duty. Thank you for your time."

Misato's audience applauded her as she wrapped up her presentation. _All right, I got my message out there._ She thought as the pounding in her heart calmed a little. _Now all I do is hope they approve my ideas._

"That was an excellent presentation, Major, and I am quite glad we are having this discussion before the Commander and I are due to leave for the Antarctic." Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki said after he finished clapping. "Let's take a break for now. We shall discuss this later in greater detail."

* * *

 **Later that Night**

"Rei? Are you home?" Shinji rang the doorbell to Rei's apartment for the fifth time, after double-checking her address was correct? "I'm here to drop something off for you."

Shinji waited for a whole minute, but there was still no response from the blue-haired girl.

 _What if she's sleeping?_ _Nah can't be._ Shinji thought. _Misato said she keeps a strict schedule and doesn't sleep until midnight._

Suddenly, Shinji's eyes widened in horror.

 _What if…oh, no…she was still pretty beat up when I saw her after waking up in that hospital._ Shinji thought. _What if her injuries got worse and she collapsed? She could DIE if nobody helped her!_

With that thought in mind, Shinji turned door knob and threw his entire weight onto the apartment door, only for the already-unlocked door to open and for him to fall flat onto his face into the apartment. After dusting himself off and picking up the bag of notes, Shinji looked around and realized that it was about as run-down as the building she lived in. What little wallpaper remained was faded and peeling off, cracks in the exposed wall let in little drafts all over the place, stains were all over the carpet, and there were even a few spots that had black mold. The furniture was also fairly spartan, with a plain single-person bed, a simple wooden desk and foldable chair, a stove and a refrigerator that looked like they were made decades before the Second Impact, plus a cheap plastic bookshelf. Shinji walked over to the desk and noticed that there was only one thing on it: a pair of melted glasses.

 _I wonder what these are for._ Shinji thought as he picked it up.

Suddenly, he heard a door creak open. Shinji turned and was immediately awestruck. Emerging from the steam was Rei wiping herself with a gray towel. Shinji's eyes widened as he stared slack-jawed at her naked form, with her pale skin, slender figure with curves in all the right places, and graceful posture. She didn't seem to mind Shinji's presence and simply strode towards him as she continued drying herself off. The male teen was so fixated on her that he stopped paying attention to the sensations on his entire body except his face, which simply felt hot…and a sudden stinging sensation from Rei's slap that snapped Shinji back to reality.

"Pilot Ikari, I did not give you permission to handle those glasses." Rei said flatly but **「** **menacingly** **」**. "Put them back, now."

"Right, sorry about that." Shinji complied as he rubbed his cheek. _Second time I got hit on that cheek today, juts my luck._ "Sorry for barging in here and all, I was just kind of worried when you didn't answer your doorbell."

Rei paid him no heed as she walked over to a laundry hamper and started to put on her outfit for the next day, which was her school uniform.

"Uh, Rei, you do realize tomorrow is a Sunday, right?" Shinji asked. "Don't you have something more casual?"

"I know. I have no need." Rei said as she tucked her uniform shirt into her skirt. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, right, the teacher told me to give you today's homework and notes since you were still at the hospital and all that." Shinji said as he emptied the contents of his backpack onto Rei's desk. "Plus Misato wanted me to drop off your new ID for you since she's busy tonight."

Rei muttered her thanks as she finished dressing, then headed over to the bookshelf and picked out a book. She then brushed past Shinji, pulled the chair with her towards the desk, and sat down. Shinji took it as a sign he should leave, and was about to head for the door when he noticed what Rei was actually reading.

"Hey, Rei, I didn't know you like Pink Dark Boy." Shinji said as Rei turned to look at him. "I actually met Rohan Kishibe a few times, having lived in Morioh and all."

Rei's red eyes suddenly widened at the revelation, and her mouth slightly gaped. It was the most emotion Shinji saw her show ever since they met.

"It is a very fascinating series. Would you like some tea or water?" Rei said, still no emotion in her voice. "As you said, we have no school tomorrow. We can conduct this discussion for as long as we wish to."

* * *

 **Monday**

"Shinji, you got back pretty late on Saturday night?" Misato teased Shinji as she drove him to school. "You two had a good time?"

"It's nothing like that, Misato!" Shinji replied with a blush on his face. "We just talked, that's all!"

"Relax, Shinji, I'm all for young love." Misato said with a grin on her face. "Just don't let it get the way of your duties as a pilot. That, and don't knock her up."

"Come on, Misato, my aunt already gave me 'The Talk' before I left Morioh." Shinji said. "I know about being safe and all that stuff."

Misato just laughed as she drove on, making casual conversation with Shinji on the way to school. Soon enough, the car pulled to a stop in the school's parking lot.

"Shinji, before you go, I need to tell you that you'll be getting friends soon." Misato said before Shinji left the car. "My request to get more Eva pilots transferred to Tokyo-3 went through."

"That's great news!" Shinji said as he stepped out. "How soon?"

"I'm not sure yet, but hopefully we can get all of them by the end of the month." Misato began to drive off. "Have a great day!"

 _Having Misato driving me on her to work is a life-saver. I'd probably get lost trying to figure out how to take the train here._ Shinji thought as he went up the stairs. _That reminds me, I better figure out the way to school on my own in case I can't ride with her._

As Shinji entered the classroom, he noticed that all the students were clustered around the back corner of the class. _That's weird. Did another Eva pilot transfer in already?_ Shinji thought as he approached the edge of the crowd and went on his toes to have a better look. At the center of the circle was Rei sitting and talking in her usual emotionless tone with several girls and boys including Kensuke and Hikari. On her desk were her notebook, writing utensils, a gift-wrapped box, and a card under said box.

"Ayanami, good to see you back at school." Shinji greeted her.

"Good morning, Ikari." Rei said. "It appears my return has caused quite a disturbance."

"Wait, you guys know each other?" One of the boys asked. "Didn't you transfer here when she was still in the hospital?"

"Are you two dating?" A girl demanded. "Don't tell me a handsome hunk like you is dating that prude."

"Whoa, back off a second there. I don't appreciate my friend here being called a prude." Shinji smiled as he scratched his head. "And no, we're not dating; we just know each other from…our parents' friends."

"Don't lie to me, mister!" The girl said. "You two are dating!"

"Come on, you're making things difficult. We all know Shinji and Rei here are both Eva pilots." Toji interrupted as he put his left hand on Shinji's shoulder. "They're just co-workers, right, Shinji?"

"Yeah, you got that right, Toji." Shinji smiled. _Thanks for the save, man. At least nobody knows about me visiting Rei's place._

After some little more excited chatter, the class representative decided it was time to lay down the law.

"All, right, everyone! Exit the classroom in a single-file line!" Hikari called out. "We need to be on time for the weekly assembly."

After sitting through fifteen minutes of the principle droning on, Hikari Horaki herded the class back to their homeroom and led them through the daily ritual of standing up, bowing to the teacher, and sitting back down. At around halfway into the lecture, Shinji heard a loud beep come from his belt. He looked down and realized that it was his NERV-issued pager. Before the teacher could turn around and scold whoever was responsible for the noise, another beep sounded from the direction of Rei's desk. Shinji soon felt Rei tapping his shoulder, and the civil defense siren sounded right after along with a chilling announcement.

"Attention all residents, as per NERV directive D17, a general evacuation order has been issued for the city of Tokyo-3. Please evacuate immediately."

"Pilot Ikari, let us move." Rei said as she continued to pace forward. "The emergency recall has been sounded."

Rei went on a sprint immediately after she left the classroom, and Shinji went after her in hot pursuit to get to whatever transport she was using so he could catch a ride to NERV. As he chased after Rei, he realized something…

"Rei, wait! That's not the way down!" Shinji said. "Why are you going to the roof?"

Rei simply ignored him and continued to run up the stairs past the crowd of panicking students coming down, and Shinji continued to chase her out of frustration.

 _Maybe NERV is sending a helicopter?_ Shinji thought as he heard the door to the roof being slammed open. _Man, she's faster than I expected._

Shinji ran out the doorway only to see a bright blue beam of light zooming towards the Moon, which was still barely visible, then reflected towards the same general area as the NERV HQ.

 _Great, how the hell am I supposed to get to NERV now?_ Shinji thought as he threw his hands in the air. _What the hell was that anyway? Wait, Rei said she has a Stand. Maybe that was it?_

After pacing around the roof for a couple of minutes and watching the multitude of helicopters either belonging to NERV, UN Forces, JASDF, or civilian operators evacuating Tokyo-3's residents, Shinji felt a strong wind hit him squarely in the back. Turning around, Shinji saw a NERV-branded V-22 Osprey with the rear ramp extended and Misato waiting inside. Taking the cue, Shinji jogged onto the ramp and into the aircraft.

"Good timing, Shinji." Misato said as she drove. "Looks like those online lessons did stick after all."

"Rei helped me a little too, actually." Shinji said. "By the way, I think she zoomed towards the NEV HQ on some kind of laser beam. Was that her Stand?"

"Guess you saw it in action, then." Misato replied. "Her Stand is **「** **Fly me to the Moon** **」**. You can ask her about it when she's done with the Angel."

"Wait, didn't she just get out of the hospital?" Shinji asked. "What if she gets injured again?"

"That's just a risk we're going to have to take. There's no way you can go out in Unit 01 any time soon." Misato said. "We also haven't done a cross-synch test between the two of you, so there's no guarantee Unit 00 will even respond to your commands."

"All right, but that still doesn't make me feel any better about sending her out there." Shinji crossed his arms. "What am I supposed to do anyway if I can't pilot?"

"Trust me; this is not an ideal situation. There's a reason why I petitioned Commander Ikari to transfer more pilots here." Misato said. "As for you, you'll just sit with me and watch the battle. Part of the training is to have pilots on standby observe battles and debriefs."

"All right, guess it makes sense." Shinji said. "By the way, where is the Angel anyway? I don't see some giant monstrosity stomping around on the ground."

"That's because it's not on the ground." Misato replied. "It's attacking from space."

* * *

 **Earlier at NERV HQ…**

"Morning, everyone. What did I miss?" Misato said as she sat down at her console in the operations center. "Any strange things or incoming Angel attacks I need to know about?"

"We do have something, ma'am. At 0730 we started tracking an unidentified object in high Earth orbit above the Indian Ocean slowly heading North-East and descending. Radar signatures indicate it is too large to be a satellite. JSSDF lent us multiple reconnaissance satellites for visual confirmation, but we can't get any signal back." Makoto Hyuga began his report. "The object appears to have some sort of built-in jamming function. We've just initiated the scan for Blood Pattern and the results…oh, no…Patter Blue confirmed. It's an Angel. Object is now accelerating, it's heading towards Japan."

"According to the MAGI's calculations, the probability of impact with the GeoFront is 99%" Maya called out from her readings.

"Damn it, this soon? Reroute all available orbit-based N2 launchers and mines to intercept the Angel!" Misato commanded. "Contact Commander Ikari immediately!"

"I'm trying, ma'am, but we can't get through!" Shigeru Aoba said. "The Angel is jamming satellite as well as phone communications! Communication is limited to Tokyo-3!"

"I see, this thing's a real crafty bastard. All right, as the ranking officer here, I'm taking command of this operation. I'm issuing special order D17: the evacuation of all residents of Tokyo-3 as well as non-essential NERV personnel." Misato said. "We still have telegraph as a back-up option, right? Send a message to HQ, UN Assistance Force Japan and the Ministry of Defense."

* * *

The UN originally sent a small contingent of military observers to Japan in order to monitor and moderate brewing tensions in East Asia in the years immediately following the Second Impact. In order to for the observers to remain impartial, the mission (dubbed the UN Stabilization Mission to Asia) was staffed by military officers from Canada and several Latin American countries. They were responsible for monitoring the activities of the JSDF as well as working with their counterparts in China, Korea, Vietnam, and other ASEAN member states to prevent their hosts from breaking out into all-out war.

As tensions in Asia died down and NERV rose in importance, UNSM - Asia was merged with the UN Peacekeeping Force - Korea to form UN Assistance Force – Japan, which is responsible for aiding NERV and the JSDF in fending off the Angel threat. UNAF-Japan mainly consists of air force, air defense, and naval units as well as the necessary logistical and medical support to maintain such a force. Curiously, while the United States has routinely sent personnel and equipment to participate in UNAF-Japan, the country continues to maintain its own military force in Japan separately from UN command. The presence of three foreign military forces, NERV included, remains a major point of contention in Japanese politics.

UNAF-J's headquarters is located in Narita Airport, which was expanded and fortified in order to accommodate both civilian and military traffic. Lodger units include the RCAF's 422nd Fighter Squadron, the Canadian Army's 5th Air Defence Regiment, as well as fighter and air defense units from other countries. A 2010 proposal to establish CFB Narita was quietly shelved after protests from Japanese ultranationalist groups as well as complaints from other UN member states that had forces stationed in Narita.

* * *

 **Narita Airport**

The pilots of 422nd Fighter Squadron scrambled towards their jets. The first flight, which were already on high readiness, took off after minutes of preparation. The jets zoomed gracefully through the air towards their target as they followed the live tracking data fed to them from a Chilean AWACS aircraft. Their radar screens and IFF tags indicated that the Canadians were being accompanied by Japanese, American, Argentinian, and Brazilian fighter planes.

"All crafts, this is Albatross. Be advised, hostile as jamming capabilities. Do not approach the 200-meter exclusion zone as indicated by NERV. Target has now entered atmosphere and hereafter designated 'Sahaquiel'. Break." An operator on the AWACS aircraft instructed. "End break. I'm receiving reports that ASAT weaponry has no effect. Engage as soon as you enter missile range. Refrain from entering visual range. I say again, refrain from entering visual range. Battle order is as follows: CAN, USA, JAP, BRA, ARG. Over"

 _All right, this should be a piece of cake._ Major Mary Liu thought as she armed one of her missiles and watched her onboard computer lock onto the target using NERV's tracking data. _Bingo, asshole._

"Flight Vimy, this is Grizzly. You may engage when ready. Over" Mary fired a missile as soon as she spoke.

As one, the Canadian fighter jets let loose their barrage of missiles and broke off allowing for the American jets to their work and repeat the cycle. The N2 missiles impacted the Angel, causing massive explosions to ripple across the creature's AT-field. It was not enough, as the creature continued to fly through the air towards its destination. Without hesitation, the Canadians circled back to the front of the formation and fired off another barrage of missiles.

"Albatross, this is Grizzly." Major Liu contacted the AWACS plane right before she fired her missiles. "I believe I have a visual signature, transmitting image now. Over."

"Thanks, Grizzly. Will forward to NERV to analysis." The Chilean operator replied. "All fights, be advised. Retreat to secondary defense coordinates as soon as you finish engaging. Over."

The Angel's AT field continued to hold and ripple after the second wave of missiles hit, but the solid black sphere soon started to twist and strain. Like a demonic soft-shelled egg, the top of the sphere split open and long orange tendrils that resembled claws emerged. The claws then pushed to the sides, rippling apart and shedding more of the dark skin, which also bulged in all directions until all of it was torn off from the inside. From the remnants of the black sphere emerged a creature with gigantic orange wings with an eye-shaped body that had a circular rainbow pattern on the bottom completing the "eye" image.

"Albatross, are you seeing this? Sahaquiel has changed shape, and it looks like a piece is falling off." One of the American pilots said over the radio. "From where I am, it looks like the 'Angel' is about as long as three football fields. Over."

Just as the pilot was describing the creature, a lump appeared on the edge of one of its wings. It grew and took shape in the same way a drop of water would form. Once the **「** **drop** **」** reached the size of large house, it detached from the creature's main body and fell onto the land below, creating a massive explosion and a new crater in the landscape. After shrugging off another volley of missiles to the front, the creature formed another **「** **drop** **」** and sent it hurtling towards the ground, creating yet another giant explosion and obliterating a city block.

"Albatross, be advised. Sahaquiel is exhibiting behavior consistent with a bombing run. Creature has not shown any damage at all." Major Liu announced over the radio. "We have enough munitions for one more barrage, and then we need to return to base. Over."

"Copy that, Grizzly. Good luck. Albatross out."

"All right, let's try something different this time. We're going to probe the strength of that AT-Field. Showdown, you're with me and attack the front like last time." Major Liu announced to her flight. "Hammerhead will attack from the left while Lynx will engage from the right. Fang and Ghost will engage from the top and bottom, respectively. Acknowledge. Over."

After receiving acknowledgement from her comrades, the Canadians burst into action, with Liu and her wingman hanging behind the other 4 jets while they veered off towards their assigned directions. This time around, they flew a little bit closer than the last few attempts before launching their missiles.

"Grizzly, this is Ghost, the AT-Field looks extremely strong on the bottom. Missile didn't even create any ripples. Over." The pilot said. "Shit! Several **「** **drops** **」** are forming! Looks like it's trying to bomb me out of the sky!"

The fighter jet pulled sharply to the right before it could fly directly under the Angel, where several **「** **drops** **」** rapidly formed, fell, and detonated on the ground below. Meanwhile, Hammerhead and Lynx reported that attacking the flanks made no difference.

"Fang…the AT-Field on top…weak…discoloured the AT-Field." Fang reported in through heavy static. "We…break…missiles…"

"Fang, come in again." Major Liu asked as she and the rest of the jets flew in the direction of Narita. "Did you just say the top AT-Field is vulnerable? Over."

"Corre...unresponsive…controls…jam…top." Fang could only manage the words until there was nothing but silence.

As she could not just turn around and look, Major Liu just said a silent prayer for the pilots' safety and carried on with her return to base. Meanwhile, Fang's jet completely shut down while it flew over the Angel despite the pilot's best efforts to regain control. While the plane flew forward and down due to the inertia, it was able to escape Sahaquiel's powerful jamming field on top.

"Comeoncomeoncomeon…" The pilot whispered as he desperately tried to steer and restart the jet's engine and other systems to no avail. The jet would not activate even when he followed all the recovery procedures drilled into his head. After he exhausted all the options for restarting the jet, the pilot pulled the ejection handle and prayed it was the only thing that worked.

* * *

 **NERV HQ**

"Senpai, I have good news and bad news." Maya called out from her console right as Misato and Shinji walked in. "Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Bad news, please." Ritsuko replied. "I'd rather be surprised than disappointed."

"Despite several countries throwing N2 munitions at it, the Angel hasn't been damaged." Maya said. "It's using pieces of its body as bombs to home in on hour location, and the MAGI's calculations indicate that a full-on impact would turn Tokyo-3 into an extension of the Pacific Ocean."

"Well this is just a damn fine start to the day." Ritsuko took a drag from her cigarette. "What's the good news?"

"Right after the Angel made landfall in Japan, some fighter pilots discovered that the Angel's top AT-Field is the weakest and were able to penetrate it." Maya said. "However, the N2 missiles failed to cause any significant wounds. The Matsushiro facility has also finished backing up the MAGI."

"Great, the Angel's only weakness is one the Eva Units can't exploit unless it's willing to let Rei climb on top of it. Tell UN command to cease all attacks against the Angel. This is our fight now. " Misato said. "Guess we'll just have to do it the hard way. Rei, are you ready for Operation CATCHER?"

"Yes, Major Katsuragi." Rei replied from inside Eva Unit 00's entry plug.

"All right, Rei, you're going to be our eyes out there. The Angel's jamming became a lot more powerful, so we only have radar signatures to rely on. Remember the plan we talked about." Misato said into her radio. "When we finish calculating the Angel's landing zone, I want you to run there, boost your AT field to max power, and catch the Angel. Once the Angel has come to a stop, use your progressive knife to stab the Angel's core in the middle while you hold the Angel with the other hand."

"Major Katsuragi, I've said this before and I'll say it again. You do realize this plan has about 0.00001% chance for success, right?" Ritsuko said. "Twenty repeated calculation can't be wrong."

"Do I need to remind you that I'm in command of this operation, Doctor Akagi?" Misato used Ritsuko's title for the first time in months. "I will not have anybody second-guess my decisions, not even the MAGI."

"Say what you want." Ritsuko crossed her arms. "But you're the one who's putting us all at risk with your insane plan."

Misato's face went red with anger and her teeth clenched as she seriously considered slapping her long-time colleague and friend. _Just calm the FUCK down, Misato. Starting a catfight in the middle of a mission is going to kill us all._ After taking a few breaths in and tightly curling her hands into her fists, she calmed down a bit.

"Look, just say so if you want to leave. That goes for the rest of you, including Shinji." Misato said flatly. "I can handle this operation from this point. None of you have to stay here and put yourselves at risk anymore."

"This is our job too, ma'am." Makoto replied. "There's no way we'll abandon our stations."

"As the head of NERV's tech branch, there's no way I'm leaving the MAGI and the Evas behind." Ritsuko said as she lit another cigarette. "Besides, someone has to keep your insane decisions in check."

"Well, I'm already here." Shinji put his arms behind his head as he leaned backwards. "I might as well cheer Rei on while she kicks the Angel's ass."

"All right, it's settled then." Misato said as she leaned to the right as she put her right in front of her face. "Let's get to work! Eva Unit 00, launch!"

The Eva launch system immediately catapulted Unit 00 towards the surface. As soon as it hit the surface, Rei assumed a position similar to one used by track athletes before the starting signal.

"I'm transmitting radar tracking data to Unit 00 now." Maya said as she worked her console. "Pilot Ayanami, this data is continuously updated. It will help you determine where to conduct the interception."

"Understood." Rei said. "I have visual signature of the Angel."

"Roger that, Unit 00." Misato said. "The estimated impact coordinates are on your tactical display. Head there now."

As soon as Misato finished speaking, Rei detached her power cable and began her sprint towards the area marked on her map.

"The Angel is changing trajectory! Recalculating the coordinates now." Maya called out from her station. "Revised time of impact: 2 minutes!"

In normal circumstances, the tactical display would have used satellite imagery and radar technology to create a precise holographic projection of the battle zone. With only radar available, the tactical display only showed a 3-D wireframe map of the area of operations. The white blip representing Unit 00 sharply turned and headed to the updated direction. The entire control room held their breaths in silence as they watched and hoped for the white blip to get to its destination before the massive orange blip representing Sahaquiel could get there first.

"Time until impact: 1 minute 30 seconds!" Maya said. "Unit 00 is approaching the estimated landing zone!"

"You know, Misato, I've had the MAGI ran the numbers. In order to stop an Angel this size with an AT-Field that powerful, Eva Unit 00 would need to be at least 200% stronger even with the safety locks disengaged. That's with both hands, too." Ritsuko said. "If we're actually going by your plan, Unit 00 would need to be 500% as strong as it is now in order to be able to hold the Angel with one arm while Rei pulls out the prog knife. Even at that strength, Eva Unit 00 would only hold for 10 seconds before the arm is put out of commission."

"Just relax, Ritsuko. I know what I'm doing." Misato said as she focused on her own screen. "Rei'll pull it off."

 _Come on, Rei, you can do it._ Shinji thought as he watched the tactical display. His fists were clenched so tightly, the nails were being pushed back into the fingers. On the display, Rei's blip rapidly picked up speed while moving towards the mountain while the Angel's speed stayed the same.

"Forty seconds until impact!" Maya said with panic in her voice. "Unit 00 is on the mountain!"

"Unit 00 in position." Rei's voice came on the speakers. "Preparing to intercept."

"It's all or nothing, Rei." Misato said as she crossed her arms. "This is your chance to shine like a star."

"Angel is focusing the AT field on the bottom!" Shigeru said. "Looks like it wants to create a pretty deep bay."

Shinji looked at the tactical display and saw that the Angel was now descending on the mountain from a moderate angle. Eva Unit 00 was completely at rest on the mountain, ready to intercept the massive monstrosity. _She has the weight on the world on her shoulders._ Shinji reflected. _I need to have faith in her._

"Twenty-five seconds…wait!" Maya cried out. "Data feed lost! Signal from Unit 00 has also terminated."

Misato looked down at the bomb shelter hatch that appeared at her feet, and got ready to rush her coworkers into the shelter below that only she could activate.

"Well, Misato, it was an honor." Ritsuko finished her cigarette and immediately lit a new one. "Nobody can say we didn't do our best."

Just as Misato bent down and put her hand on the hatch's handle, the entire GeoFront shook from what sounded like a tsunami hitting the city above.

"This is Ayanami." Rei's voice came over the speakers. "The Angel has been terminated."

"YEAH!"

"WE DID IT!"

"WAY TO GO, REI!"

"WOO-HOO!"

The entire control room erupted into cheers as every congratulated each other, with Maya pulling Ritsuko into a tight hug and planting a kiss on the surprised scientist's cheeks, and Shinji high-fiving Misato.

"Hey, Misato, I just realized something." Shinji asked her. "How did Unit 00 suddenly become strong enough to catch the Angel?"

Misato quickly looked around the control room and saw the other still too busy celebrating their victory to notice their boss talking to the newest pilot. Confident that nobody would notice their conversation or their sudden absence, Misato led Shinji outside the control room.

"Cocoon." Misato commanded, and what appeared to be a hatch to a fallout shelter suddenly appeared on the hallway's floor. "Don't worry, just follow me."

Misato pulled on the handle, and the hatch swiveled open without her exerting any more strength. She then led Shinji down the dilapidated stairs into the darkness below, and the hatch hissed shut behind them.

"Misato, why did you bring me down to some forgotten section…"Shinji trailed off. "Wait a minute; this is your Stand, isn't it?"

"My Stand's name is **「** **Cocoon** **」** , which you probably heard already. I come down here when I need to be by myself or if I need to discuss things in secret." Misato said. "The plan was never for Unit 00 to catch the Angel in the first place."

* * *

 **Earlier**

"The Angel is changing trajectory! Recalculating the coordinates now." Rei heard Lieutenant Ibuki voice on the comm. "Revised time of impact: 2 minutes!"

Rei immediately jerked to the right and headed to the new projected landing zone, which was on a small mountain on the outskirts of the city. She looked up and saw that the Angel's massive **「** **menacing** **」** shape descending onto the city. She willed her Eva to run even faster. With Rei's sync ratio at 80% the blue-haired girl soon felt a faint soreness in her own legs. Rei gritted her teeth and pushed Unit 00 to run even faster, hoping to reach the mountain before the Angel could destroy the entire city.

"Time until impact: 1 minute 30 seconds!" Lieutenant seemed more distressed than last time. "Unit 00 is approaching the estimated landing zone!"

 _Increase speed._ Rei commanded the Eva. _I must reach that mountain._

The Eva exerted even more force than before as the legs fought to pick up speed while running towards the mountain. The sore feeling in Rei's legs intensified into a sharp pain as she ran up the mountain to the peak, exerting Unit 00's legs to near breaking point in order to maintain the speed she had on the surface. The Eva Unit came to a halt as it reached the peak; the sudden negative acceleration sent Rei jerking forward, with her seat's safety harness being the only thing preventing Rei from flying through the LCL and colliding with the screen. The Angel's **「** **menacing** **」** shape loomed over the countryside as it drifted downwards on a slant towards the mountain. While it was close enough to block out most of the sunlight, Rei noticed that the Moon was still visible due to the early morning time.

"Forty seconds until impact!" Lieutenant Ibuki said, this time clearly distressed. "Unit 00 is on the mountain!"

"Unit 00 in position." Rei said calmly and quietly. "Preparing to intercept."

"It's all or nothing, Rei." Major Katsuragi said as she crossed her arms. "This is your chance to **「** **shine like a star** **」**."

Upon hearing the code phrase Rei and her superior agreed upon while discussing the mission within Cocoon. Rei turned Unit 00's head towards the Moon and focused.

"Fly me to the Moon." Rei said, and a humanoid feminine figure appeared behind her within the Entry Plug. The yellow figure had long plates resembling feathers extended from the arms to form a wing-like cape, a dome-shaped head with a black canopy that roughly resembled an astronaut's helmet, a jointed antenna located on the side of the helmet, green eyes peeking out from within the canopy, as well as various celestial shapes such as moons, stars, and ringed planets inscribed all over its body in alternating patterns.

At Rei's command, **「** **Fly me to the Moon** **」** exited the Entry Plug and hovered behind Unit 00. The Stand laid its hands on the Eva and bent its antenna bent towards the Moon's location. The entire Stand started to emit a blue glow which also spread from its hands onto Unit 00. While the glowing portion continued to slowly but steadily spread over Unit 00, the Stand's antenna shot a thin blue beam that connected with the lunar surface. Upon seeing how dangerously close the Angel is to landfall, Rei took a few deep breaths and exerted her mind to make the glowing patch grow even faster. She screamed and clutched at her head in pain while more and more of Unit 00 became bathed in the blue glow.

 _Please…go…faster._ Rei thought as she gritted her teeth and tried to fight off the growing nausea. _Must…keep…eye…on….Angel…position!_

Soon, the area within the entry plug was bathed within the blue glow as well. "Twenty-five seconds" were the last words Rei heard before her entire world was bathed in a bright blue light. **「** **Fly me to the Moon** **」** and the entirety of Eva Unit 00 were converted into a blue beam and shot towards the lunar surface, which then bounced back onto Earth and rematerialized.

The bright blue light disappeared, leaving Rei looking down at the mountain she dematerialized from moments ago as well as a glowing red orb right under the Eva. The orb was attached to several undulating strings of what appeared to red flesh that steadily grew in size. Time seemed to slow down for Rei as she glanced to her side and noticed the giant orange wing-like structure beside her with the end close to her looking like a giant bleeding wound, with the blood flowing towards the glowing orb. Rei suddenly realized two things. One: she was falling. Two: the glowing red orb was the Angel's core. Thinking quickly, she took out the two progressive knives in Unit 00's shoulder pylons and jabbed them into the core. The Eva dangled in the air briefly before the core ruptured, sending red liquid showering down onto Unit 00. The rest of the Angel let out a loud ear-piercing shriek as its body rapidly inflated and exploded, sending a gigantic torrent of red liquid flooding down onto Tokyo-3, washing away anything that wasn't firmly anchored to the surface.

"This is Ayanami." Rei said after Unit 00 landed on the mountain peak. "The Angel has been terminated."

* * *

 **Next Day, After School**

"Wow! That's amazing, Rei! I can't believe you actually held that Angel back with one arm while you stabbed it with the other one." Toji beamed after Misato her story about Rei's fight against the Angel. "How does it feel to be the person who single-handedly saved the city?"

"I…do not know." Rei said as she chewed on a piece of tofu. "I feel…sort of relieved."

"Come on, Rei, don't be so humble!" Misato cut in. "That was all you! You earned tonight's dinner!"

"I was so bummed we had to evacuate." Kensuke said. "I was hoping to watch Rei fight an Angel in person!"

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Shinji asked.

"Well…to get some quality footage, you know." Kensuke's face turned red. "I've always wanted to watch an amazing girl like Rei fight…"

"Whoa, back up a second there, lover boy! Did you just say…"Misato said as the table descended into chaotic chatter while Pen-Pen, Misato's penguin, slurped his noodles without a care in the world.

"Excuse me, are you Misato Katsuragi?" A teen girl's voice called out. "I'm supposed to meet you here tonight."

The group, including Pen-Pen, turned to looked at the girl. She had shoulder length black hair, a thin figure, and wore a school uniform consisting of a black blazer, purple tie, and a gray knee-length skirt.

"That's me. Glad to have you join us, Fourth Child!" Misato said. "I didn't expect the American branch to transfer you here so soon."

"They were already processing my paperwork, and the battle just made them hurry it up and pack me on the first flight here." The girl replied as she looked at the others. "Sorry, I don't think I've introduced myself yet. My name is Shizuka. Shizuka Joestar."

* * *

 **Little Shinji in Morioh**

"Shinji, is everything OK?" Tomoko asked as she cleaned up the bruises on Shinji's face.

"Yes, Aunt Tomoko." Shinji replied barely above a whisper. "I just fell at school today."

"Shinji, you know you shouldn't lie, right?" Tomoko's expression became sterner. "What _really_ happened today?

Shinji stayed silent for a few seconds, then broke out into a full cry.

"It didn't work, Aunt Tomoko! I told those kids at school to stop bothering me, but it just made them angrier!" Shinji said while wiping his tears. "They said…they said…they said because I'm an orphan, nobody would care if they beat me up!"

"There, there, let it all out." Tomoko said as she hugged Shinji tightly. "Shinji dear, listen, _I_ care. I know Josuke and his friends definitely care too."

"Then why did the kids at school say all that?" Shinji asked.

"They lied, didn't they? That means those kids are not good kids." Tomoko patted Shinji's back. "I'll make sure to give the teacher a handful at the next parent-teacher meeting."

"Thanks, Aunt Tomoko" Shinji said as she let him go.

"That's not enough, though. I think it's time we taught you how to stand up and defend yourself." Tomoko said as she looked in his eyes. "I'll give Nijimura a call. He can start helping you get more fit."

* * *

 **The next day…**

Shinji still remembered the scary-looking firefighter slowly walked across the school yard. Despite Cousin Josuke and Aunt Tomoko's reassurance, he still felt scared whenever he saw Okuyasu Nijimura's face.

"Move it, slowpoke!" A child roughly shoved past him. "Hey, that's a pretty good name for you. Slowpoke Ikari!"

"Yeah! I'm kind of bored with 'Crybaby Ikari' anyway!" A second child said as he kicked Shinji's leg as he walked by.

Suddenly, Shinji and the other two kids zoomed forward and came face-to-face with Okuyasu.

"So, you little punks like to pick on this defenseless kid?" Okuyasu said as he grimaced, showing his teeth. "If you're so tough, why don't you try to fight ME?"

Okuyasu roared, and the other two boys ran away screaming in terror.

"Th-thanks, Mr. Nijimura." Shinji said as he looked down on the ground.

"Any time, little man." Okuyasu smiled. "Now, let's go to another park and get started."

* * *

Stand Name: Cocoon

User: Misato Katrusagi

Power: None

Speed: None

Range: None

Endurance: A

Precision: None

Development Potential: D

The Stand takes the form of a blast hatch that opens into a bomb shelter equipped with various objects including a bunk bed, a simple table with 4 chairs, a microwave, and a lamp. The state of the shelter is directly tied with Misato's blood alcohol content, with the shelter becoming less dilapidated the greater the degree of Misato's intoxication. Occupants in the shelter cannot be harmed by any methods, and the door can only be opened and closed by Misato herself. One the Stand is summoned; it can only disappear if Misato dismisses it or if she dies.

* * *

A/N: As always, feedback and reviews are greatly appreicated!


	5. Chapter 4 - Fortunate Son, Act 1

Author's Notes: I managed to get this chapter out faster than I expected. Now, to address the reviews.

Guest: Your wish has been granted. HAIL 2 U!

Guest: Thank you for your kind words. I look forward to seeing what your fic is like. As for Gendo, SEELE, and Stands, [SPOILERS REDACTED ON ORDERS OF THE SPEEDWAGON FOUNDATION].

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure except the handful of OCs I might create. Evangelion belongs to Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara while JoJo's Bizarre Adventure belongs to Hirohiko Araki and Lucky Land Communications.

* * *

"Say, Shizuka-senpai, do you like manga by any chance?" Kensuke asked her as he gestured towards Shinji and Toji. "These fine gentlemen and I are going the Rohan Kishibe meet-and-greet next week."

"Are you kidding me? Who doesn't love Pink Dark Boy?" Shizuka beamed. "Count me in! And please, just Shizuka will do. I'm still not used to the Japanese honorifics thing."

"Aida, if it is possible." Rei suddenly spoke up. "I would like to come too."

"All right, it's gonna be an awesome day!" Toji said right before he yawned. "Man, I'm tired."

"Same here. I had a pretty long flight, I gotta go back to my place and get some shut-eye." Shizuka said as she got up. "It was nice catching up with you, Shinji, and it was great meeting you guys too."

* * *

 **Green Dolphin Street Prison, 2011**

"Don't worry about me, Jolyne!" Annasui yelled as he suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Just take little Shizuka and go!"

"I'm not leaving you behind! You saw what that fucking monster did to Weather Report and Ermes and even Emporio!" A young woman said. "There's no way you can survive against _that_! It's got too way many powers for us to figure out and counter!"

"Listen to me, Jolyne! I became a dead man the day I set foot in here, but there's still hope for the two of you. The cultists are massacring everyone including themselves, so we need someone to go outside and tell the truth about what happened here." Annasui grabbed Jolyne's shoulders. "Besides, Shizuka was almost done for until Emporio gave his life to save her. Don't let that sacrifice be for nothing!"

"I'm not leaving anyone behind!" Jolyne screamed. "I've already failed too many people here!"

" **「** **Diver Down** **」**!" Annasui summoned his Stand. "Do it!"

Without question, **「** **Diver Down** **」** burrowed into Annasui's knee and shredded the joint, causing the prisoner to collapse to the ground in pain.

"You _*grunt*_ don't have _*grunt*_ a choice!" Annasui's face was contorted in an expression of agony. "Either you – AUGGHH – leave me behind or _*gasp*_ we all die trying to drag me...out of this _*grunt*_ shithole!"

Jolyne fell silent as she squatted down and looked at Annasui, trying to figure out a way to use **「** **Stone Free** **」** or **「** **Achtung Baby Act 2** **」** to get him out of the burning prison.

"Jolyne, look!" Shizuka pulled on Jolyne's pants. "There's **「** **red fog** **」** in the hallway!"

"Damn it, he's getting close again!" Jolyne said with a mix of anger and fear. "Looks like this is it, Annasui. I'm sorry I couldn't get you out."

"Don't be sorry. _*groan*_ At least I got what I deserved." Annasui smiled as he suddenly pulled Jolyne forward and sealed his mouth over hers in a kiss. "I loved you, from the day we met."

" **「** **Yare yare dawa,** **」** I love you too." Jolyne caressed Annasui's cheek before she stood up. "Come on, Shizuka, let's get the fuck out of here!"

Their last sight of Annasui was him screaming against a cruel fate even while on his knees. Jolyne and Shizuka ran in the opposite direction of the **「** **red fog** **」** , dodging and weaving to avoid fires, guards, and gangs of cultists in the process. When Annasui's tortured screams came over the prison's speakers, Jolyne Cujoh used her Stand to block out her ears with string and kept on running. After leaving the prison walls using **「** **Achtung Baby Act 2** **」** 's abilities, the two girls ran into a familiar face.

"FF!" Jolyne was relieved. "We thought you were dead!"

"I was able to play a pretty convincing corpse and then used the sewers to escape into the sea." FF replied. "Now, how about we get off this island?"

"Don't worry, I know just the way." Jolyne smiled for the first time in weeks as she led them to a corner of the island. "The water is deeper than usual at the shore here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shizuka asked.

Suddenly, a small submersible emerged right next to the coastline, and two figures emerged from the hatch, their Stands at the ready.

"Is that them, Jotaro?" The blond man asked while he pointed at Jolyne's group.

"That's them all right, Giorno." Jotaro replied. " **「** **Yare yare daze** **」** , Jolyne, this is a terrible way to spend Christmas."

"At least I got you some gifts." Jolyne tossed him two **「** **discs** **」**. "Merry Christmas to you too, dad."

Shizuka Joestar jolted awake in her seat and noticed the train was almost at her stop. She mentally cursed herself for falling asleep in a public space and got off the train. After a few minutes of walking and checking behind her back, Shizuka finally reached her apartment.

"I'm home, Jotaro!" Shizuka said to the man 20 years her senior. They had given up on calling each other by anything except their first names due to complications involving age and generation difference.

"Welcome back, Shizuka. The delivery company said they'll have your stuff here by tomorrow afternoon." Jotaro Kujo said. "How's Shinji doing?"

"He seems like he's made some friends and settled in pretty well. Didn't get to talk to him too much, though." Shizuka said. "I can't say I agree with him living with a single woman more than 10 years older than him."

"That's a problem for NERV to sort out. We can't interfere without raising suspicions." Jotaro tossed her a can of soft drinks. "The Old Man called too. He just wanted to make sure you got here safely."

"Thanks, Jotaro." Shizuka said as she caught the can. "I'll give dad a call."

* * *

 **The Next Day**

"Shinji, Rei, Shizuka, I'd like to talk to you guys about something." Misato said. "It's important."

"Understood." Rei replied, and the three plugsuit-wearing pilots followed Misato to a small conference room.

"All right, let's get something cleared up first." Misato said. "Shinji, call out your **「** **Stand** **」**."

 **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」** immediately appeared behind Shinji, casually floating in the air right in front of Shizuka.

"Shinji, I didn't know you have a **「** **Stand** **」**." Shizuka said with a surprised look on her face. "When did that happen?"

"So you can see Shinji's **「** **Stand** **」** then. That settles it, then. All the pilots we have so far are **「** **Stand** **」** users." Misato said. "I guess I might as well get on with it. I've already gone over this with Rei before, but under no circumstances will any of you use your Stands in battle unless I give the authorization."

"That doesn't make any sense." Shinji said. "Didn't Rei and I win the first two battles by using our **「** **Stands** **」**?"

"In case you don't remember, I authorized Rei to use hers, and _you_ fell into a coma because you used yours. I was about to get to the reasons too. Yes, it is possible to increase the size of a **「** **Stand** **」** to be as big as an Eva Unit, but that takes tremendous mental effort. More effort than what a human is capable of." Misato said. "Shinji here passed out for 2 days, and Rei said she felt like her head was going to split open and that she was going to puke when she used **「** **Fly me to the Moon** **」** 's ability on Unit 00. Clearly, using **「** **Stands** **」** on that scale is an extremely risky endeavor.

"Now, another reason why **「** **Stand** **」** use is restricted is because of all the cameras and other equipment we use to record the battles. Unless the viewer is also a **「** **Stand** **」** user, he or she can only see the battle was won by some mysterious unexplainable force. How am I supposed to write an after action report based on that? Just say the pilot used a punching ghost to take out an Angel? As far as I know, we're the only **「** **Stand** **」** users in the GeoFront. That means nobody else can see the **「** **Stand** **」** ; not in person and not in videos. I'd get locked away in a sanitarium since nobody else can confirm my observations."

Misato could see the gears starting to turn in the pilots' heads as they processed the information and began to understand her reasoning.

"The last reason might possibly be the most important of them all. NERV enjoys a strong working relationship with the Speedwagon Foundation, and I was fortunate enough to have a discussion with someone there who specializes in **「** **Stand** **」** research. According to him, **「** **Stand** **」** users…"

"…are attracted to other **「** **Stand** **」** users by fate." Shizuka interrupted her. "Did I get that right, Major Katsuragi?"

"Yes, that's exactly it!" Misato said. "How did you know that anyway?"

"I've had my **「** **Stand** **」** ever since I was born, ma'am." Shizuka replied. "My dad and my current guardian both like to remind me of that rule."

Misato simply nodded and continued explaining.

"Because of that rule Shizuka mentioned, there are probably a lot of **「** **Stand** **」** users in Tokyo-3 already, and there's no guarantee that there are no shady characters mixed in with the bunch. As Eva pilots, your identities are already known to the public. Using your **「** **Stands** **」** in battle will only make you easier targets.

"Now, you are allowed to use your **「** **Stands** **」** if there's no way the battle could be won otherwise. It's a call that I will make myself after consulting all available data, so don't worry about me abusing my position or anything like that. I'll give everyone a **「** **code phrase** **」** before a mission, and if I say that **「** **code phrase** **」** , it means **「** **Stand** **」** use is authorized. You guys all understood everything I just said?"

After seeing all 3 pilots nod, Misato continued.

"Great! Now let's go back to the testing area." Misato said. "The harmonics tests will begin shortly."

"Hey, Rei." Shizuka said as they walked through the halls. "I was wondering something."

"Yes, Pilot Joestar?" Rei turned her head towards Shizuka.

"Well, these plugsuits we're wearing." Shizuka pulled on her own green plugsuit. "Aren't they kind of…you know, embarrassing?"

"I do not understand your question, Pilot Joestar." Rei said in her usual emotionless tone. "How do our plug suits cause 'embarrassment'?"

"Well, I know they don't show off too much skin." Shizuka tried to explain. "But these things are pretty skin tight and, well…"

"You have not lost my attention, Pilot Joestar, and you do not appear to be ill." Rei said. "Please continue with what you wish to say."

"What I mean is…they cling to our bodies pretty tightly, right? For us girls, everyone can see how wide our hips are and the size of our busts. Same goes for our butts and legs." Shizuka began to blush as Rei raised one of her eyebrows. "They're pretty tight…in that zone too. Don't even get me started on the male plugsuits. You can see the how big their…"

"…muscles? You were going to say muscles, right, _senpai_?" Shinji suddenly turned around with a glare in his eyes and an edge in his voice. "Because mine aren't actually that big."

"All right, Children, settle down." Misato barged in. "We don't want too many hormones flowing during the harmonics test."

* * *

"So, what are we looking at, Ritsuko?" Misato asked. "How are their sync ratios?"

"Well, it seems like Shinji's 70% sync ratio during that battle was somewhat an anomaly." Ritsuko replied. "His sync ratio has stabilized at 38.3%."

"That means he can still fight, right?"

"Yes, but the Eva's movements would be fairly sluggish because of the low sync ratio. The activation threshold is 20%, after all. Rei's sync ratio is sitting at 42.7%; not as high as I hoped to be since she's more experienced than Shinji." Ritsuko resumed her explanation. "As for Shizuka, her sync ratio is almost at 50%. Well, 49.9% to be more exact. This is quite surprising since it was previously thought only children born after the Second Impact could achieve anything above activation levels. I suppose we have the US branch to thank for busting that myth and training her well."

"So what's your verdict on them?" Misato asked. "Can they defend this city?"

"Of course they can, Misato. They're well-above the activation threshold, remember? They'll need more training to improve their effectiveness and sync ratios, but they can still get the job done at this stage." Ritsuko replied. "That reminds me, I took a look at the maintenance team's reports. It seems Shizuka came at a good time."

"Why's that?"

"Eva Unit 01 is still out of commission, and Eva Unit 00 has suffered severe structural damage in the legs from that stunt you pulled a couple of days ago with Sahaquiel." Ritsuko said casually. "As things stand, Unit 04 is the only Eva Unit that is mission-capable."

"Wow, so we're this close to being totally defenseless?"

"You made the right call to petition for more pilots and Evas to be transferred here, that's for sure."

* * *

"How did we do today, Dr. Akagi?" Shizuka asked as she and the other pilots stood in a line in the observation deck, facing away from where they were during the test.

"Pretty well, considering it's the very first harmonics test involving all 3 of you. Shinji, your sync ratio is 38.3%. Rei, yours is 42.7%. Shizuka, you're sitting at 49.9%. The numbers are decent, but there is definitely room for improvement." Ritsuko replied as she jotted on her clipboard. "I will be administering weekly harmonics tests from now on, and Major Katsuragi will be coming up with a training program to boost your fitness levels and combat effectiveness. Before you go, though, I should let you know that this is the last time I will address Misato by that title."

Ritsuko then took out a small box from one of her lab coat's pockets and opened it, revealing two small pins inside. Misato, who was standing beside Ritsuko, opened her mouth in surprise.

"The Commander and Vice-Commander won't be returning for a few more days, so they delegated me to do it." Ritsuko said as she replaced the pins on the collar of Misato's jacket with the new ones from the box. "Congratulations, Lieutenant-Colonel Katsuragi."

With the announcement came cheers and hollers from the pilots themselves as well as the other technicians in the room. Misato couldn't keep the smile off her face as she shook hands with everyone present. Suddenly, after all the claps died down, a single set of claps sounded from the observation deck's entrance. The metallic clanking that came with each clap indicated the individual wore several rings.

"Congratulations, Misato." A scruffy man wearing a striped shirt and a red tie walked in. "Looks like you're making you way up in life!"

"Kaji! Long time no see!" Misato wrapped him in a hug. "I didn't know you were in Japan!"

"Oh, I've been out and about running various errands." Kaji said as Misato let him go. "I managed to give the Commander his **「** **special delivery** **」** right before he and Fuyutsuki sailed off to Antarctica."

Kaji took a look at the 3 Eva Pilots. Shinji and Shizuka stared at him with a wide-eyed gaze as if they were mentally asking "Who are you again?" while Rei just looked at him with her usual stoic expression.

"Are these the pilots? My name is Ryoji Kaji, and it's a pleasure to meet you all." The man with the messy hair introduced himself. "I'm an old friend of Misato's, as well as her old college lover."

"Hey, you didn't have to reveal that part!" Misato's face turned red as a tomato. "That stuff's personal!"

"I'm just letting them know, that's all." Kaji said as he pretended to scratch his head. "So, Shinji, you're living with her now, right? Is she still so wild in bed?"

"THAT'S IT! All of you GO HOME!" Misato screamed. "Test is over! Dismissed!"

Rei simply walked out the door while Shinji turned his head to look at the brewing argument between Misato and Kaji.

" **「** **Yare yare** **」**." Shizuka muttered as she brushed past Shinji on the way to the change room.

"Oh, and Shizuka?" She heard Kaji call her name. "Send Dr. Kujo my regards."

* * *

 **Somewhere on the Ocean**

Gendo Ikari initially thought he could get away from the annoying calls with the rest of SEELE while he sailed to the Antarctic to inspect the research station there. Unfortunately for him, SEELE specifically ordered a NERV vessel equipped with a high-tech conference room in order to keep micromanaging his activities. It was on during one of the calls when Gendo just wanted to sneak off to the ship's galley and down as many drinks as possible before coming back to the meeting.

"Ikari, are you aware of the latest pilot to arrive at Tokyo-3?" One of the members asked. Gendo did not bother to keep track of who due to the absence of the numbered monoliths that usually dominated these meetings. "In fact, do you even know that pilot's name?"

"I fail to see why the pilot's arrival or her identify is a matter worthy of the committee's attention." Gendo said with his hands clasped in front of him, hoping the static would get loud enough to drown out the old men's voices. "And I do know the pilot's name, its Shizuka Joestar. Born in Japan before the Second Impact and adopted by an elderly American man who used to be a real estate tycoon in New York."

"Then you must know full well the implications associated with _that_ name." A member demanded. Gendo wasn't sure and didn't care if it was the same guy. "She is a Joestar. That entire family has ties to the Speedwagon Foundation!"

"I'm still here, please continue on." Gendo yawned as he looked at his watch. "You have my full attention."

"She must be infiltrating Terminal Dogma as we speak!" A Russian-accented voice came out of the speakers. "Your carelessness has doomed The Scenario!"

"Gentlemen, please, she was recruited by NERV three years ago. We would have concrete proof about her ties to the Speedwagon Foundation by now." Gendo objected. "Even if she is a spy, they would be committing a grave misstep by sending a Joestar straight into the GeoFront."

"Ikari is right. There is no way the Foundation is stupid enough to send an actual member of the Joestar family to spy on us in the middle of NERV Headquarters. Their work tends to be a lot more _subtle_ than that. Still, I believe we can use this to our advantage." Keel Lorenz spoke up. "We'll have capable people in Section Two as well as our own assets monitor her for anything suspicious and prevent her from doing anything suspicious. If the situation is suitable, we may be able to eliminate her to send a message to the Speedwagon Foundation. Better yet, we could turn her to our side and use her as a backup for Agent Kaji to counteract whatever Valentine's plan may be. Now, let us move on to another item. I've been hearing some unsettling reports regarding our operations in Italy…"

* * *

 **Tokyo-3 Convention Center, a Week Later**

"You know, Rei, it's probably a good thing this event got delayed by a week." Shinji said to her as they waited in line. "Now we can enjoy the meet-and-greet after pay day."

"Man, I am so jealous of you guys." Kensuke said to the Eva pilots who waited in line with him and Toji. "You actually have disposable income!"

"So, what're you guys all buying?" Shizuka asked. "I'll probably just buy something small and easy to pack up like a key-chain or something."

"Oh, man. I am _so_ buying the latest figurines!" Toji said. "They look so cool…and I can't afford the 3-foot statue they have over there."

"I think I'll just have Kishibe-sensei sign my copy of the latest volume." Kensuke said. "I'm trying to save up for Pink Dark Boy: Brawl of Heroes."

"I will buy the refrigerator magnets." Rei said. "I have little use for anything else, and I already have the latest copy of the manga."

"Come on, Rei, you have the most money out of all of us!" Shinji said. "You gotta treat yourself once in a while."

"What does 'treat myself' mean?" Rei asked with a genuine hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Wait, you don't know how to treat yourself?" Kensuke asked. "What kind of home did you grow up in?"

"One where I have what I need to survive on a daily basis." Rei replied. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"See, that's your problem right there." Kensuke said. "You gotta spice your life a bit and enjoy it…"

"Say Shinji, that's an interesting hat you got there." Toji said as he ignored Kensuke's attempt to flirt with Rei. "What's a 'duwang' anyway?"

"Oh, that?" Shinji took off his hat and examined the phrase stitched onto it. "The city council wanted to sell souvenirs to encourage tourism in Morioh, so they went with hats that had the writing 'I MORIOH' on them. The problem is: the Chinese contractor that was making the hats screwed up and printed 'I DUWANG' instead. Apparently that's how they pronounce the kanji in China. Anyway, the mayor fixed the issue and got the rest of the hats showing the right phrase. Then he decided to sell the bad hats as a collector's item."

"Wow, so did you have to fork over a lot of money?" Toji asked. "Those things must be very expensive."

"Not really. Aunt Tomoko was one of the first ones to buy them because she thought they were funny for some reason. They were pretty cheap back then." Shinji shrugged. "She bought one of every size too. That's how I got this one."

"Shinji, is that you?" Shinji suddenly heard a familiar voice call out. Shinji took a look behind him and realized it was one of the staff members from NERV, one Makoto Hyuga.

"Hello, Lieutenant Hyuga." Shinji said. "Here to see Rohan Kishibe too?"

"Just Makoto is fine, it's my day off." Makoto replied. "I've been a fan of Pink Dark Boy ever since I was a child, so I bought a ticket as soon as I heard about the event."

After some more casual chatter between Makoto, the pilots, and their two classmates, they finally got close to the table where Rohan Kishibe set up shop. In the meantime, Shinji noticed several security guards running downstairs towards the entrance.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" Rohan clearly was not enjoying the experience, as he propped up his head with one of his arms that was on the table and yawned. "Let's get whatever you have signed so I can move on to the next fan."

Rei took out the manga from her bag and put it in front of Rohan who casually flipped it open.

"All right, who am I signing this for?" Rohan said quickly as if he practiced the line a million times. "And why the hell are you wearing your school uniform? It's a Sunday."

"Rei Ayanami." Rei said. "I have nothing else to wear."

"Girl, you really need to rethink how you're spending your money if you can't afford any casual clothes but can buy a ticket to see me as well as all this crap." Rohan said as he gestured to the booths behind him that sold Pink Dark Boy merchandise. "The last thing I want is to get sued because some insane parent claims my manga ruined a reader's life and…wait a minute; did you just say Rei Ayanami? That's you, right?"

"That is correct, Mr. Kishibe." Rei said. "My life is not ruined. I have what I need to live."

"And that's exactly the problem…" Kensuke muttered behind her.

"So YOU'RE the Eva pilot who fought that freak last week!" Rohan was genuinely excited for the first time since he came to this stupid event. "You know what? Come see me during the intermission."

"Affirmative." Rei said as she picked up the manga Rohan just signed. "Thank you for your time."

 _Man, that girl is weird._ _Are all Eva pilots this strange?_ Rohan thought as he half-heartedly greeted Kensuke. _I can probably get some good stuff out of her with Heaven's Door._

After putting up with an overly-enthusiastic Shizuka, whose sunglasses fell onto the table several times, and a nervous Toji, Rohan finally came face-to-face with Shinji Ikari.

"Oh, it's you." Rohan said flatly. Before he could continue, the convention center's PA system crackled to life.

"Attention, dear guests, there has been a problem involving the door mechanism at the entrances." The voice said. "Please stay inside the building until further notice."

 _That was strange._ Shinji thought as he handed Rohan his copy of the manga. _I wonder if it had anything to do with those security guards running past._

 _BANG!_

Rohan opened the manga and touched the inside cover with the tip of his pen.

 _BANG!_

The mangaka began to scrawl a greeting message specifically addressed to Shinji, something he didn't usually do.

 _BANG!_

The mangaka started his signature, a technique Rohan has perfected ever since he started his manga career.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Rohan tried to focus as he moved his pen in the flowing manner he has always practiced, but the sheer amount of _BANG_ s that came from the entrance caused him to lose focus and instead slash his pen across the inner cover, leaving a long dark line where the rest of signature was supposed to be.

"THAT'S IT! I CAN'T FOCUS WITH THIS DAMN RACKET!" Rohan got up as he shoved the manga back into Shinji's hands. "I'm calling the intermission early."

With that, Rohan Kishibe stormed off in the direction of the entrance. The long line of fans, wanting to get the signature as well as being morbidly curious, followed behind him to see what was going on. As Rohan approached the doors, he saw the security guards and maintenance personnel attempting to figure out what is wrong with the door. One of the guards had a hammer in his hand that was taken from a nearby toolbox, which explained the source of the noise.

"Sir, please go back to your activities." One of the guards gestured for Rohan to stop getting closer. "We're still trying to sort out the situation."

"I can't 'get back to my activities' with you guys hammering on this stupid door!" Rohan threw his hands in the air. "How am I supposed to concentrate on signing autographs for the fans if I can't concentrate?"

"Sir, please, we're doing everything we can…"

As the two were arguing, a technician jammed a crowbar between the seams of the automatic door to try to force it open. The door suddenly glowed blue as it sent a jolt of electricity up the crowbar into the tech's body. The crowd looked on in horror as the man screamed in agony as the strong electric current fried the man to a crisp. One of the agents from NERV Section Two assigned to watch over the pilots panicked and tried to break down the door with his shoulder, only to suffer a similar fate. The crowd panicked immediately as a smell resembling roast pork permeated the air.

"What the hell is going on?"

"I want to get out of here!"

"Did…did two people just die right in front of us?"

"OH! MY! GOD!"

"Toji, let's go!" Shinji said to his friend. "We gotta look for the others!"

Finding the others proved to be easier than they thought as they quickly tracked down Shizuka and Rei. Kensuke was found a minute later further from the crowd. Strangely enough, he was facing away from Shinji and ignored him calling out his name.

"Kensuke! Kensuke! Are you OK!" Shinji said as Kensuke started to turn around. "Listen, we're going to be safer if we…whoa, what the hell is that thing on your face?"

As Kensuke revealed his face, his friends saw that the glasses-wearing teen had what appeared to be a facial mask plastered onto his face.

"I didn't know there's a beauty salon in here." Shizuka said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Toji asked. "I don't see anything."

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked. "Kensuke has that weird mask on his face."

"What mask? He looks pretty normal to me." Toji said as he approached Kensuke. "Come one, Kensuke. Let's find somewhere safe to wait this one out."

"Who the hell are you?" Kensuke said as he took a step back. "How do you know my name?"

"Did you hit your head or somethin'?" Toji asked. "It's your pal, Toji, and here's Shinji, Rei, and Shizuka-senpai."

"You're not Toji! None of you are them!" Kensuke started to panic and run. "You're all imposters. Toji! Shinji! Where are you?"

"I am confused." Rei said. "Why does Aida not recognize us?"

"I don't know either, Rei…" Shinji said as his stance tensed. "…but there's something seriously weird going on here."

"A building that no one can get out of, with doors that electrocute people who try to leave." Shizuka said. "A facial mask nobody else can see. This must be the work of an enemy **「** **Stand** **」**!"

"Well, well, well. Looks like there _are_ **「** **Stand** **」** users here after all." A raspy voice that had what appeared to be a Mid-West American accent came from above them. "And it looks like you've seen what **「** **Poker Face** **」** can do."

"Who's there?" Shizuka asked as she and the rest of the group looked around, hoping to find the source of the voice. "Show yourself!"

"Over there!" Shinji pointed above at one of the support columns. A figure resembling a clown in a red and white suit wielding a squirt gun clambered down the column. When it hit the ground, it immediately took off towards the entrance.

"After it!" Shizuka said. "We gotta chase down that **「** **Stand** **」** before the user can do any more damage."

"Will somebody explain to me what the hell is going on there?" Toji asked. "What's a **「** **Stand** **」** anyway?"

The group caught up with the crowd just to see the clown use the squirt gun to sprays another facial mask onto a crying child who was being consoled by her father.

"Help! Papa got replaced by a bad man!" The child screamed as she pushed her father away and ran off. The clown then back-flipped away from Shinji and company and into the convention center's interior.

"Attention, everyone, this is a special announcement. This is your old friend Creedence Clearwater, most recently featured on 'America's Most Wanted'. I've locked down this building with no means for any of you to escape. Right now, I'm pumping a special hallucinogenic agent through the building's ventilation systems that will make everyone go crazy and kill each other in the next two days. What I also have is the only sample of the antidote." The PA said, with **「** **Poker Face** **」** replacing the announcer. "My demands are simple: 1 trillion yen deposited in an offshore bank account that I will disclose later and the cancellation of the manhunt Interpol sprung on me. Go ahead and call the cops if you want, just remember that nobody can get in or out of this building until either my conditions are met or I finished having my fun. Oh, and I suggest the Japanese government meet my demand unless they want Rohan Kishibe's mangled corpse on the news. Until next time, buh-bye!"

Upon hearing the announcement, the crowd started to panic as they covered their faces with whatever clothing they could use while they ran away from each other. Whatever order the security guards and Section Two agents tried to impose immediately broke down as the crowd desperately searched for places to hide.

"Oh, no." Shizuka muttered. "He's here."

"Shizuka, who is this guy?" Shinji asked her. "You know him?"

"Creedence Clearwater is infamous for several high-profile heists, hostage situations, and plane hijackings and has been active since before the Second Impact." Rei said. "He was arrested in Italy in 2009 and extradited to the United States, but escaped during the Green Dolphin Cult Riots of 2011."

"I've heard of that name when I was in Green Dolphin, but I've never seen him in person." Shizuka said. "How did you know this anyway, Rei?"

"I watch 'America's Most Wanted' on television every week." Rei replied. "Contrary to school rumors, I do seek out sources of entertainment."

"Hey, you guys!" Rohan Kishibe called out as he ran towards the group. "Have you seen a clown with a squirt gun running away from here?"

"Yes, Mr. Kishibe." Rei replied. "We have indeed seen him."

"Although he didn't really run." Shizuka interrupted. "More like backflipped."

"Wait a second; don't tell me you've seen him too." Shinji said. "That means we're all **「** **Stand** **」** users!"

"Hello? I'm still out of the loop here!" Toji yelled. "Can somebody explain me what a **「** **Stand** **」** is?"

" **「** **Heaven's Door** **」**!" Rohan yelled and his **「** **Stand** **」** turned Toji into a book. On Rohan's command, **「** **Heaven's Door** **」** wrote "I will sleep until Rohan Kishibe wakes me up" on one of Toji's pages and turned him back to normal. Toji then immediately passed out and was caught by Rohan before he hit the ground.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Shizuka demanded. "We could have just explained it to him!"

"Do you really want to waste time babbling about something he thinks is crazy talk when there's a hostage situation going on?" Rohan asked. "Help me hide him so he can sleep in peace! Then we can figure out how to beat this guy!"

* * *

 **Little Shinji in Morioh**

For the first time since his mom died, Shinji felt good about himself. While the first few training sessions with Okuyasu left Shinji panting and crying because he couldn't run very far nor could he do a single push-up, Okuyasu refused to give up. Every day, the firefighter would pick up Shinji after school and run with him. Slowly but surely, Shinji realized that he could run further than he did when he first started and that he could actually do pushups and sit-ups without Okuyasu's help. As a reward, Okuyasu started teaching the young boy basic punches and kicks to for self-defense.

The progress wasn't just physical, however. Every time he told off a bully at school, there was more confidence in his voice. Sure, the bullies still hit him from time to time, but Shinji no longer bawled his eyes out when they did but assumed the fighting position Cousin Josuke taught him the one time he joined their workout session. That was enough to cause the bullies to back down, at least for the time being.

To make sure Shinji didn't fall behind on his homework, Tomoko enlisted the help of Koichi and Yukako to tutor him. Shinji's grades rose drastically after the first two months, earning a fresh wave of insults including "bookworm" and "nerd" which Shinji shrugged off.

"All right, Shinji. You made a lot of progress since we started, so let's have a little race." Okuyasu said after school one day. "We'll start at your house and then run to this school and back. If you can run back to your place before me, I'll give you a tour of my fire station."

Shinji eagerly agreed as he and Okuyasu went to where he lived and quickly changed into his gym clothes. On Aunt Tomoko's signal, Shinji and Okuyasu darted back towards the school. Of course, Okuyasu ran slower than his normal pace in order to allow Shinji to catch up, but this time he decided to pull a twist. The firefighter summoned **「** **The Hand** **」** and swiped the **「** **Stand's** **」** right hand, causing Okuyasu to suddenly rush forward far ahead of Shinji.

Undeterred, Shinji pumped his legs even harder to catch up with him. With Okuyasu's longer strides and his **「** **Stand's** **」** ability, the firefighter was the first one to reach the school. Shinji, despite being a little discouraged, refused to cheat on the run and went up all the way to the school and touched the wall before running back. As soon as he caught up with Okuyasu, the firefighter suddenly zoomed ahead again before his very eyes.

 _This isn't fair._ A thought crept up in young Shinji's head. _He's just trying to make me lose so he can make fun of me._

Without realizing it, Shinji quashed those thoughts as he tried to run even faster. However, Shinji's legs were sore and stiff and this point.

 _Come on, Shinji; just admit Okuyasu won this one._ Another thought crept up. _You know you can't win._

 _That doesn't mean I can't try!_ A new thought appeared. Shinji grabbed onto that simple thought and continued running even though every muscle in his tired body screamed at him to stop. He noticed Okuyasu further ahead stopping to chat with an older man wearing a 'Morioh Fire  & Rescue' t-shirt and jeans.

 _This is my chance to catch up with him!_

 _Maybe I should slow down and take a break!_

 _He stopped! I can win this one!_

 _Just a quick break to catch my breath wouldn't hurt._

"Come on, Shinji! You got this!" Shinji was snapped out of his thoughts by Okuyasu's voice and clapping. "Don't slow down! I can still catch up, you know."

Shinji ran past and waved at the two clapping off-duty firefighters and settled into a steady pace. His comfort was short-lived, however, as he made the mistake of looking behind and saw Okuyasu doing his zooming trick again. Shinji could see the familiar street corner by this point and picked up his pace while Okuyasu's footsteps became louder behind him.

As Aunt Tomoko's house came into view, Shinji could swear he can hear Okuyasu's footsteps and even breathing right behind him. Shinji remembered Okuyasu's trick and pretended he was being chased by a bear as he closed in on the destination. His breath became more ragged with snot coming out of his nose and there was pain in his legs, but Shinji pretended that the bear would eat him if he slowed down, so he ran and ran until he felt his hand touching the front door. With the race being finally over for him, Shinji sat down in front of the door and saw Okuyasu coming to a stop right in front of him.

"Congrats, little man! You won the race!" Okuyasu bumped fists with Shinji. "I'll take you to the fire station tomorrow after school, and then we'll bring Ms. Higashikata, Koichi, and Yukako to have a nice dinner at Tonio's place."

Shinji remembered little of the tour at the fire station or the dinner at Morioh's Italian restaurant, but he did remember that race for a long time because it finally made him realize two things. One: there were people in the world who loved and wouldn't give up on him. Two: he was worth something.

* * *

Stand Name: **「** **Poker Face** **」**

User: Creedence Clearwater

Power: E

Speed: B

Range: B

Endurance: E

Precision: A

Development Potential: C

Poker Face takes the form of a clown with a black and red jester hat and a white/red checkerboard pattern on the rest of its body. Its face is covered by a mask that switches between moods in order to reflect the user's current emotions. The most notable feature is the water gun it uses to spray a facial mask on people, which causes the victim to display the symptoms below.

 **Facial Mask:** The mask can only be seen by other Stand users and induces a several psychological effects. The effects are nullified once the mask is removed.

 **Capgras Syndrome:** Any victim sprayed by Poker Face's water gun will no longer recognize friends and family, but rather believe them to be impostors. Victim will be reluctant to receive help from the ones they perceive as doppelgangers.

 **Cabin Fever:** Once the mask stays on the victim for over a certain period of time (depending on the victim), the person starts to display signs of cabin fever such as aggression and restlessness. The symptoms become more intense as the time goes on, and the victim would start attacking people starting with friends and family who the victim already believe to have been replaced.

* * *

As always, reviews are more than welcome!


	6. Chapter 5 - Fortunate Son, Act 2

Author's Notes: Without further ado, here's chapter 5!

Announcements: This will be the last chapter before my hiatus. I will be working on this story again after mid-August, so stay tuned until then. I'm also switching up the format of the story a bit in order to reduce clutter. Future chapters will have either Stand sheets or Little Shinji in Morioh, but not both. I'll also be including a short section with dialogue from upcoming chapters to serve as teasers for future updates.

Disclaimer: I don't own either franchises except OCs and original Stands. Evangelion belongs to Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara while JoJo belongs to Hirohiko Araki and Lucky Land Communications.

* * *

 **Kujo Residence, Tokyo-3**

"Jotaro dear, there's a call for you!" Mrs. Kujo called out to her husband. "Apparently it's urgent."

"I'll be right there." Jotaro said as he saved the paper he was working on and went over to the phone. "Good morning, this is Dr. Kujo speaking."

"Hello Dr. Kujo, I'm Lieutenant-Colonel Misato Katsuragi, Shizuka's supervisor at NERV." The voice on the other end said. "We have received confirmed reports from our Security Division that your ward is among the hostages in the Tokyo-3 convention center. As far as we know, she hasn't been harmed."

" **「** **Yare yare daze** **」** , the Old Man is going to throw a fit." Jotaro muttered to himself before speaking into the phone. "Thanks for letting me know, Colonel Katsuragi. Please update me on the situation."

Jotaro immediately hung up then picked up the phone again. He started dialing Joseph Joestar's number, but changed his mind halfway through.

 _First things first, I need to contact the Speedwagon Foundation. Reports say Creedence Clearwater is a_ ** _「_** ** _Stand_** ** _」_** _user._ Jotaro thought as he dialed a special access number only given to select members of the Joestar bloodline. _Giving gramps bad news can wait._

* * *

 **Tokyo-3 Convention Center**

"Ok, we hid him. Now what?" Shinji asked. "This isn't exactly a small place. How are we even supposed to find this guy?"

"It'll be great if we could figure out what he looks like." Shizuka said. "Like I said before, I can't help with that since I've never seen him in person."

"The show I watched last week contained several images of the criminal." Rei said. "I could try to sketch him if I can borrow a pen and some paper from Mr. Kishibe."

"There's no need for that, Ayanami. Remember what I did to your friend?" Rohan said. "Besides writing commands, **「** **Heaven's Door** **」** can also access someone's memories by turning them into a book."

"Very well, then." Rei said as she laid down on the floor. "Please proceed."

Rohan summoned **「** **Heaven's Door** **」** and lightly tapped Rei with the **「** **Stand's** **」** pen. The girl's flesh immediately split open into uncountable thin slices and took on the texture of paper while words and pictures appeared on every page. Rohan scanned through the girl's memories as he flipped to pages to find what he's looking for.

 _Hmm. Go to school, homework, reading my manga, and watching TV every week._ Rohan thought as he read through Rei's memories to try to find images of Creedence Clearwater. _Her life is so damn dull… here it is!_

Rohan smiled in satisfaction as he read through a summary of the episode of "American's Most Wanted" that Rei was watching. Not only did he find out what the guy looked like, but also his modus operandi. Apparently he used the same "hallucinogenic agent" excuse every time he committed a crime even though toxicology reports repeatedly turned up negative. Despite the tests, Clearwater's hostages always started to hurt and even kill each other once a hostage situation dragged on, just as the career criminal had warned them. The show's host said that they were still trying to identify the substance, but it was clear that the people weren't being driven insane by any drug, but by Creedence Clearwater's **「** **Stand** **」** abilities. Having found the information he needed, Rohan decided to dig a little deeper into Rei's background and flipped to the beginning of Rei's **「** **book** **」**.

 _Let's see now…no way…there's no way she was born in 2010._ _Scratch that, she wasn't even born at all! More like they grew her in a tank. Of course, the whole thing was Gendo Ikari's idea. Who would have thought?_ Rohan's eyes widened as he read through the pages detailing Rei's creation. _A clone of Yui Ikari with DNA from something called "Lilith" as well as the creature's soul mixed in. All right, I'm not one to intervene in someone else's love life, but I better let Shinji know before he starts putting the moves on his mom or sister or whatever the hell Rei is…_

"Mr. Kishibe, did you find what you were looking for?" Shizuka asked.

 _Damn it!_ Rohan thought as **「** **Heaven's Door** **」** turned Rei back to normal. _I'll go through the rest later._

"Huh? Yeah, I got it." Rohan replied. "Let me just sketch the guy's picture in your memories so we all know what he looks like."

 _Should I warn Shinji about Rei being his sister? What if he gets suspicious and asks me what else do I know about her?_ Rohan thought as he drew Creedence Clearwater's picture in Shinji's **「** **book** **」**. _You know what? This really isn't my problem. I'm a mangaka, not a relationship counsellor._ Rohan paused for a couple of seconds, then wrote "I will only think of Rei as a friend" on one of the pages before turning Shinji back to normal. _Still, I gotta look out for someone who's about to walk into a trap. This would have to do for now._ He then moved on to add Clearwater's picture to Shizuka's memories.

"All right, now let's go find the guy." Rohan said. "How hard can it be?"

"Hang on a second, let's try calling Jotaro first." Shizuka said as she took out her cell phone. "He knows a lot about **「** **Stands** **」** , so we better learn a thing or two about **「** **Poker Face** **」** instead of rushing in blindly."

* * *

 **Meanwhile at NERV HQ**

Misato Katsuragi hated working on Sundays, and the fact that the hostage situation dropped the number of available pilots to _zero_ significantly contributed to her stress level and her hatred for working overtime. As soon as Section Two confirmed all 3 pilots were being held hostage in the convention center, Misato rushed to her office in the GeoFront in order to make arrangements for transferring pilots to Tokyo-3 as soon as possible. Understandably, she was more than a little moody during her calls.

"WHAT? What the hell do you mean the Second Child isn't ready yet? I thought Eva Unit 02 is already fully operational?" Misato practically screamed into the handset. "Immigration? Visas? FUCK those guys! Just tell them this is official NERV business and that they can shove their fucking stamps somewhere the sun doesn't shine!"

Misato opened up several electronic forms on her laptop and began to fill out the various pieces of information needed in order for the Operations Director to execute her authority.

"I am calm, damn it! Look, I'm filling out those forms right now!" Misato calmed down, but only slightly. "Just tell me which address to send them to and I'll get this shit sorted out."

After sending off those forms to NERV's Germany branch, Misato visibly relaxed.

"You should be getting them soon, and thanks again." Misato said without a hint of sincerity. "I'm looking forward to meeting the Second Child soon. Have a good day!"

Misato took a deep breath as she slammed down her office phone's handset, then picked it up again and dialed a Russian number.

"Good day, this is Lieutenant-Colonel Katsuragi." Misato said in a practiced monotone voice. "I'm calling to request the transfer of the Fifth Child from Bethany Base to Tokyo-3..."

The other side suddenly interrupted her, and Misato's expression hardened as a result.

"'Still in conditioning'? What the fuck does that mean?" Misato demanded. "I have never heard that term being used to describe any part of pilot training. Classified? I'm the Operations Director, damn it! I should have access to this kind of information! Hello? Hello?"

Misato paused for a few seconds to see if the person on the other side was still there, but a dial tone was all that answered her. She thought about calling back and give that individual an earful, but decided against. _Fuck it; I don't have time to deal with those clowns._ Instead, she dialed a British number.

"Hello, UK Branch? I'm Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi, Operations Director for NERV." Misato said, expecting more bad news. "I'm calling to request the transfer of the Sixth Child to Tokyo-3."

Misato bolted upright in her seat as she heard the news from the other side.

"What? You already have the forms ready, and all I need to do is sign them? She and Eva Unit 05 can get here by tomorrow evening?" Misato said as her eyes widened in amazement. "This…this is great! Just send it over to me right now; I'll take care of it."

 _I finally got some good news on this shitty day._ Misato thought as she opened the documents. _I hope they can get Shinji, Rei, and Shizuka out before an Angel attacks._

* * *

 **Tokyo-3 Convention Center**

"All right, I managed to get some info on Clearwater's **「** **Stand** **」**." Shizuka said as she put her cell phone away. " **「** **Poker Face** **」** is a medium-range **「** **Stand** **」** , and the user has a habit of hiding in the same building he's robbing. The **「** **Stand** **」** is not very strong or durable, but it's pretty fast."

" **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** is a very fast **「** **Stand** **」** with long range." Rei said. "I can use my **「** **Stand** **」** to track down Clearwater and guide us to him."

"Great, let's do that then." Shinji said. "The sooner we track him down the better."

 **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** materialized behind Rei with a bright blue flash. The **「** **Stand** **」** hovered in the air as it oriented itself horizontally, extended its wing-cape, and zoomed off. Rei stood still as she stared vacantly into the direction **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** flew off to and controlled her **「** **Stand** **」**. Shinji, Shizuka, and Rohan stared at the blue-haired girl with a mix of excitement and nervousness as they waited for Rei to say something. Several minutes passed by while **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** zipped around everywhere on the first floor before moving onto the next floor. It was not long until Rei saw through her **「** **Stand** **」** the image of **「** **Poker Face** **」** resting crossed-legged against a wall while watching a husband and wife starting to fight each other.

"I have located the **「** **Stand** **」**. It is on the second floor." Rei said. "I shall restrain **「** **Poker Face** **」** while I guide you towards it. Please guide me along so I may concentrate on controlling my **「** **Stand** **」**."

The small group nodded as Rei commanded **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** to rush forward and tackle **「** **Poker Face** **」** to the ground. The two **「** **Stands** **」** tumbled past the fighting couple and skidded on the floor as they struggled against each other. **「** **Poker Face** **」** swung its squirt gun against **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** , but wasn't able to build up enough momentum to cause anything stronger than light taps against the other **「** **Stand's** **」** head. Using her rudimentary hand-to-hand combat training that was mandatory for all Eva pilots, Rei commanded **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** to hook its own arms under **「** **Poker Face's** **」** arms, pin them as far back as possible, and lift both **「** **Stands** **」** into the air. To prevent **「** **Poker Face** **」** from kicking its way loose, **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** oriented itself horizontally and let the enemy **「** **Stand** **」** hang loosely by the arms while **「** **Poker Face** **」** kept kicking uselessly. **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** shook and wobbled as it desperately held on to **「** **Poker Face's** **」** arms trying to prevent the enemy from wiggling loose.

"Let us hurry." Rei said to the group as they ran to the location Rei told them. "I do not know how long I can hold the enemy **「** **Stand** **」**."

As the small gang rushed towards **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** location, **「** **Poker Face** **」** suddenly stopped kicking. Instead, it looked at a nearby security camera, nodded, and morphed its mask from a frowning to a smiling expression. Had Rei not been too occupied with leading her fellow pilots and Rohan towards her **「** **Stand** **」** , she would have noticed the strange signal and prepared for what happened next.

Without warning, the camera exploded in a shower of sparks, launching the Plexiglas canopy still containing some electronic circuits right into the side of **「** **Fly Me to the Moon's** **」** domed face. The impact made a sickening _CRACK_ sound as fissures appeared on the **「** **Stand's** **」** helmet while Rei suddenly threw her head back in pain with a loud yelp. **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** , a low-strength **「** **Stand** **」** already straining from **「** **Poker Face's** **」** struggles, loosened its grip on the enemy **「** **Stand** **」**. Taking advantage of the opportunity, **「** **Poker Face** **」** shook itself loose and fell onto the floor below, landing with a roll, then cartwheeled out of sight.

"Rei! Are you okay?" Shinji asked her as the small group stopped to tend to Rei's injuries. A large bruise appeared on the left side of Rei's pale face as if someone punched her there. The girl was also bleeding from her mouth, indicating a couple of teeth got knocked loose. "Maybe we can find some ice in this building."

"There is no need for that. We need to focus on catching the culprit." Rei grimaced as she rubbed the pained side of her cheek. "The **「** **Stand** **」** attacked me, and the enemy got loose."

"But how? I thought you restrained the enemy?" Rohan asked.

"I do not quite know." Rei answered. "All I know is that a security camera exploded and hit my face."

"Wait a minute, manipulating electronics?" Shizuka said. "That's not one of the powers Jotaro said **「** **Poker Face** **」** had!"

"So what the hell does that mean?" Rohan demanded. "The Speedwagon Foundation isn't as all-knowing as they claim to be?"

"Well, nobody's perfect, you know!" Shizuka said before pulling the group together and dropped her voice down to a whisper. "Or Clearwater has an accomplice who also has a **「** **Stand** **」**."

"That can't be good." Shinji said. "And why are we huddling and whispering?"

"Think about it, if there is another **「** **Stand** **」** user who can manipulate electronics. That means they can use the security cameras to watch our every move and record everything we say." Shizuka started explaining. "They probably already know about me calling Jotaro to dig up on Clearwater as well as our **「** **Stand** **」** abilities. We need to be extra careful from now on."

"Great, just damn great." Shinji rolled his eyes. "So how are we supposed to sort this out with two enemy **「** **Stand** **」** users running around?"

"A **「** **Stand** **」** like this is probably using the security room to control the cameras." Shizuka replied. "Let's start there. We can get one of the security guards to lead us there, and I'll use one of my **「** **Stand** **」** abilities to get us through the wall."

Fortunately, the group was able to locate one of the guards soon enough. On the flip side, the guard had already been sprayed with one of **「** **Poker Face's** **」** masks and was carrying a bloody truncheon.

"Ok, none of us know him, so there's no risk of him thinking we're impostors." Shizuka said, recalling the information her guardian gave her. "Let's just walk up to him and ask him nicely. Hopefully stage two of **「** **Poker Face's** **」** ability hasn't set in yet."

"Pardon me, Pilot Joestar." Rei asked. "What does 'stage two' entail?"

"Gotta get away!" The security guard turned towards the group and started running towards them while haphazardly swinging his truncheon. "GETAWAYGETAWAYGETAWAY!"

"Jotaro described it as 'severe cabin fever'." Shizuka replied as she adopted a fighting stance, her two fists in front of her face. " **「** **Achtung Baby, Act 3** **」**!"

The air in front Shizuka shimmered and flowed with static patterns as her **「** **Stand** **」** soon warped into being in front of the girl. Before the crazed guard could land a hit on her, **「** **Achtung Baby, Act 3** **」** punched him squarely in the forehead. Static flowed like water from the **「** **Stand's** **」** fist onto the man's forehead then down into the eyes, covering them in the same static that enveloped the **「** **Stand** **」**. The dazed man dropped his truncheon and put his hands in front him, trying to find an object to grab onto.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" The man calmed down significantly as he pawed the air in front of him. "Why can't I see anything now?"

"Sir, can you hear us?" Shizuka called out to the guard as she dismissed her **「** **Stand** **」**. "How are you feeling?"

"Yes, I can hear you just fine." The guard replied. "I-I honestly don't know. I was in a really weird daze for some reason. Did I fall asleep, please don't tell my boss if I did!"

"Don't worry, you didn't fall asleep." Shizuka replied. "But listen, you…hey! What are you doing?"

"This is taking too long." Rohan said as he shoved past Shizuka and summoned **「** **Heaven's Door** **」**. The mangaka then turned the guard into a book and wrote several things in there before turning him back to normal only for the guard to pass out cold and dropped to the floor. Without saying a word, Rohan tore off the mask, which crumpled to dust in Rohan's fingers.

"There, I made sure he can't remember why there's blood on his nightstick in the first place. I got the floor plans for this place too." Rohan quipped as Shizuka raised her finger and curling it back down as if trying to say something then decided not to at the last minute. "Now let's get to the security room on the 4th floor and get this over with. I'm getting hungry."

Thanks to the map Rohan pulled from the guard's mind, the group was able to easily locate the security room. On the way there, Rei noticed that some of the security cameras exploded in the same way as the camera that hit her, with the occasional blood trail nearby. As they got closer, a smell that could only be described as burnt rancid pork grew stronger. When they turned a corner into the hallway the security room was on, the group saw the electrocuted corpses of several security guards and Section Two agents that tried to bust into the room. The camera that was supposed to watch the door the security room was broken, with the equipment lying beside a guard with an obvious head wound.

"OH! NO!" Shizuka yelled as she put her hands on her cheeks. "This-this could only mean…"

"…the security room is a trap." Shinji finished the sentence for her while crossing his arms. "This is just great. How are we supposed to get Clearwater when that door is a giant bug zapper?"

"We could still go with the original plan of phasing through the wall using Shizuka's **「** **Stand** **」** , but if this trap is **「** **Stand-based** **」** , we'll just get zapped like those poor chumps." Rohan said as he stroke his chin; the part of the brain responsible for his manga ideas were working on overdrive to think of ways to solve the problem ahead of them. He bit his lip as he surveyed the scene in front of him. The normally-stoic Rei was looking visibly uncomfortable at the sight of the electrocuted corpses and had her back to a wall. Shizuka was pacing back and forth with her hands behind her back, her eyes sealed shut to both focus on her thoughts and to avoid looking at the bodies. She had also pulled her lime green shirt over her nose in order to shut out as much of the stench as possible. Shinji had his arms crossed and was slightly leaning back, his left leg in front of his right one for balance, his eyes focus on the door. Like himself, the teen boy was also thinking of ways to get past that door and the electric deathtrap.

 _Wait a minute, electric trap?_ Rohan's eyes widened as he perked up. _If the trap is this powerful, the power has to come from somewhere else and not the_ ** _「_** ** _Stand_** ** _」_** _. That means…_

"Hey kids, I think I got something!" Rohan announced loudly, sending the three pilots jolting towards his direction and huddled together. "If the **「** **Stand** **」** has the entire building trapped, the power must be pulled from somewhere else like the building itself. If we find the electrical room and shut down the convention center's power, the trap would be disabled and we can get Clearwater and maybe his accomplice."

"That's a great idea, Mr. Kishibe!" Shizuka whispered. "I just have one issue with the plan: what if the basement door is trapped too?"

"That might be a problem, but I did notice something when the whole mess started." Rohan replied. "The first few guards were hammering at the door without any issues, which means the enemy **「** **Stand** **」** had to redirect power towards that door in order to use the trap. If we can make it to the electric room without anybody noticing, they wouldn't have a reason to trap that door!"

"All right, I guess that can work." Shizuka said. "I can make myself and other people invisible, so I volunteer to go to the basement."

"I know this building's layout thanks to the memories I pulled from the guard's head." Rohan tapped the side of his skull with a finger. "I'll go with Shizuka."

"I'll keep an eye on this door to make sure Clearwater doesn't escape." Shinji turned and looked at the door. "I'll have **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」** suck the bodies towards the door to block it."

"In that case, Rei, can you stay here with Shinji?" Shizuka asked her. "It's not a good idea to leave someone here alone in a situation like this."

"Affirmative." Rei said and the group broke their huddle. Rohan wrote "I will stick to the floor for two minutes" in both Shinji and Rei. Shizuka then grabbed one of Rohan's hands with her own, causing the mangaka to raise an eyebrow.

"Mr. Kishibe, I need to be in physical contact with you if you want to stay invisible for more than half an hour." Shizuka explained before Rohan could complain. "Watch your step, it took me a while to get used to walking without seeing where my feet would end up."

With a wordless command, Shizuka and Rohan's bodies immediately became transparent and faded out of view.

"Ok, you need to take slow steps and make sure the entire sole of your foot touches the ground before taking the next step." Shizuka explained as she took the first step and pulled on Rohan's arm. "Anything else, you'll trip and roll your ankle."

Following Shizuka's instruction, Rohan raised his left foot and slowly lowered it to the floor, first touching the ground with the balls of the foot, then the ankle. He then repeated the same thing with his other foot.

"Great, just keep practicing, and we'll take this as slowly and carefully as we can."

After waiting long enough for the two to be far enough away, Shinji called out **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」** and ordered the **「** **Stand** **」** to float to the door and orient itself so its underbelly was facing the door. With a metallic click, the spots on **「** **Black Hole Sun's** **」** carapace turned red, slowly pulling the bodies towards the door. He kept his eyes on the **「** **Stand** **」** even while he and Rei were leaning forward due to the **「** **Stand's** **」** gravity, with Shinji's hat being pulled off in the process. As soon as the bodies were airborne, Shinji dismissed **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」** , causing the bodies to continue flying forward thanks to the inertia and hitting the door in a series of dry smacks before falling back down in front of the door. The corpses made a decently-sized pile that blocked the door's lower half while Shinji's hat landed on top of the pile.

"Rei, with this smell, I think I understand why you don't like meat." Shinji quipped. "And I am definitely washing that hat when this is all over."

* * *

 **Edge of Police Cordon**

"Good morning, Dr. Kujo." A Speedwagon Foundation lawyer greeted Jotaro, who nodded at him in response, as the marine biologist approached the cordon. "I'm afraid we can't enter the cordon yet. It took me a while to convince the authorities to let our paramedics in."

"How have things been before I got here?" Jotaro asked. "Are the cops making progress yet?"

"Not yet." The lawyer sighed as he wiped his glasses with a cloth. "They've tried to enter the building several times, but everyone who touched the building got electrocuted. Last time I heard, they want to bring in the Self-Defense Forces to blow a hole in the wall."

" **「** **Yare yare.** **」** " Jotaro muttered as the tipped his hat's visor downwards. "This day is going real smooth."

"Excuse me, Dr. Kujo!" A feminine voice caused Jotaro and the lawyer to turn their heads. It was a reporter from one of the news agencies. She wore a pantsuit that closely hugged her figure as well as makeup that Jotaro could only describe as borderline garish. A portly cameraman followed closely behind her, with the camera's lens directly pointed at his expressionless face.

"Dr. Kujo, what's a celebrated marine biologist doing at the scene of a hostage situation?" The reporter shoved the microphone in Jotaro's face. "Do you have any friends or loved ones trapped inside?"

Jotaro blinked and suddenly disappeared right in front of the reporter, causing the young woman to stagger back in surprise and trip on her heeled shoes. Luckily, she didn't fall thanks to some invisible force that caught her. The cameraman suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder, and the man turned only to come face-to-face with Jotaro, who stared **「** **menacingly** **」** at him, sending beads of cold sweat streaming down the chubby man's forehead.

"No comment." Jotaro said curtly before assuming a harsher tone. "Now get lost."

The cameraman lowered his head and walked away from the cordon with quick shuffling paces. He turned to look at Jotaro again, only to get a cold stare which sent him walking even faster. The reporter looked at the cameraman, then back to Jotaro who looked at her with a harsh gaze as if telling her to leave as well.

"Talk to me later, ok?" She winked at him.

"I'm married, you damn hag!" Jotaro yelled, causing the reporter to scurry off after her coworker.

"This is why I don't do press conferences." Jotaro muttered as he walked back to the lawyer. " **「** **Yare yare daze.** **」** "

"You know, that probably wasn't the smartest move." The lawyer said. "The Speedwagon Foundation has been having some problems with public image recently, and some media companies seem like they're out for our blood. Once they find out about your ties to us, they'll probably use this incident as an excuse to go after you too. I'll go make some calls to smooth things over."

 _I know exactly why they're going after The Foundation._ Jotaro recalled the secret meeting, which took place a couple of years before he met Josuke, with his grandfather and some other members of the Joestar family. _SEELE will do everything they could to eliminate any resistance to their plan._

He glanced to his left and noticed a woman with long-purple hair who wore a short black dress, leather ankle boots, a red jacket with a matching beret arguing with a police officer. She was trailed closely by two G36C-wielding body guards decked in black combat gear including Kevlar helmets and balaclavas. The cop maintained his composure as he explained something to her before she flashed a badge in his face. The officer's face turned pale and pulled the wooden barrier to the side, clearing a way for the woman and her guards. He snapped off a salute which was lazily returned by the woman before putting the barrier back in place.

"You know, this is my first time seeing Section Two decked out like that." Jotaro turned behind him to find Kaji, who wore a pair of sports sunglasses and a yellow t-shirt adorned with white magnifying glasses. "Good to see you again, Jotaro."

"Ryoji, it's been a while." Jotaro nodded.

"Indeed, and I'm sure you can guess that was good old Misato walking into the cordon." Kaji smiled as he rested his arms on one of the wooden barriers. "Poor woman can never catch a break these days."

"So, what brings you here, Ryoji?" Jotaro asked.

"Oh, just being an extra pair of eyes on NERV and the Speedwagon Foundation." Kaji replied. "Say, you want to get into the cordon, right? I can arrange for that to happen."

* * *

 **Inside the Convention Center**

"Are we there yet?" Shizuka asked as she and Rohan took slow deliberate paces in the basement.

"It's just around the corner." Rohan replied. "I can try throwing one of my pens to see if it's electrified."

Just as the duo rounded the corner, they noticed Kensuke in a fetal position leaning against the electric room door. Without saying a word, Rohan summoned **「** **Heaven's Door** **」** and wrote a phrase in Kensuke, knocking him unconscious. The two then decloaked and dragged Kensuke to a nearby room before ripping off his mask and going back to the door.

"All right, now here's the fun part." Shizuka said as she took Rohan's hand again and pulled on it to get him to walk closer to the closed door. Before he could protest, he witnessed Shizuka putting her hand on, and then _through_ the door.

"Just relax and focus on getting in." Shizuka said as she slowly walked forward and put her left leg through the door, then her face, and then the rest of her body besides the right hand that was still holding Rohan's hand. Not knowing what else to do, the mangaka simply visualized himself walking through an open door way and soon found his vision darken, followed by Shizuka appearing in front of him again still holding his hand, with various electrical equipment and a loud cracking sound in the background.

"Great, we're through." Shizuka said. "Now let's turn off…whoa."

Rohan looked around and saw that the floor, ceiling, and walls were covered by crackling electricity and seemed to serve little more than decoration, but that was not what Shizuka was pointing at. Instead, she pointed at the bright blue glow that came from deeper within the room, hiding behind one of the electrical cabinets.

"That seems a bit unusual." Rohan said. "Let's go check it out."

Shizuka turned both of them invisible again, and they slowly and carefully made their way towards the light source. By the time they got closer, the light was bright enough for Shizuka to put on her sunglasses and for Rohan to squint. Shizuka turned around and saw the source of the glow, which was something that crackled with bright electric arcs that wrapped its lower body over one of the distribution boards. It had a blue humanoid upper body with red bug-like eyes and sharp teeth. The portion below its waist looked like a disgusting mix between a spider and an amoeba, with the "legs" having dug into the distribution board. The creature's body was adorned with yellow lightning symbols. Judging from the creature's strange appearance, it must have been the accomplice's **「** **Stand** **」**.

"Ok, we found the ugly fella, now how to we attack this thing?" Rohan whispered.

"We could trip the fire alarm and dump water all over it." Shizuka replied as she surveyed the environment around the disgusting creature. "The issue is that we're definitely going to get electrocuted."

"Wait, do you hear that?" Rohan asked. "Not the crackling. It sounds like someone's snoring."

Without decloaking, the two tip-toed around the enemy **「** **Stand** **」** and saw the source of the snoring sound, a woman lying on the floor with a newspaper and several cigarette butts by her head. She was mostly bald except a long tuft of green hair that extended from the back of her skull down to the middle of her back. She wore a leather vest adorned with symbols of shackles, and her arms were covered with crisscrossing chain tattoos. Her jeans were frayed, and she wore black leather boots covered in metal studs. Shizuka thought the woman looked somehow familiar before she gasped in realization.

 _Wait a minute; she was one of the prisoners at Green Dolphin!_ A bead of sweat ran down Shizuka's head as she saw the woman stir. _Jolyne got into a fight with her once!_

Thinking quickly, Shizuka spread her feet apart, pointed in the air, and summoned **「** **Achtung Baby, Act 3** **」**. The **「** **Stand** **」** climbed above one of the cabinets and touched the large of collection of wires that connected into the electrical cabinet being controlled by the enemy **「** **Stand** **」**. The wires became translucent and dematerialized, leaving the remaining electrical charges in the box sputtering out of the openings that once served as the connection points. The electrics arcs around the enemy **「** **Stand** **」** dimmed down until they disappeared.

"Huh? What's going on?" The woman said groggily as she slowly opened her eyes, only for **「** **Achtung Baby, Act 3** **」** to punch her square in the nose, sending her head back down and bumping into the floor. The blow knocked her unconscious and caused her **「** **Stand** **」** and the crackling electricity on the walls to disappear. Without any hesitation, Rohan turned her into a book.

"Well, this is interesting." Rohan saw the woman, named Allison Chaynes, in the booth of a restaurant talking to a nondescript man wearing a black suit and sunglasses. The man was talking about Rohan's own meet-and-greet on Sunday and how the Eva Pilots will be attending the event. There was also some discussion on how the "right people" would be working that day and how they would be conveniently busy while Allison and Clearwater did their work. There was even a mention of some kind of bonus for Shizuka's death. Rohan went back a few more pages through the woman's history and stumbled upon Allison's murderous criminal history and some of her past partnerships with Clearwater. Deciding he had read enough, Rohan wrote "I will stay in a coma and only speak to confess my crimes" and turned her back to normal.

Thus Allison Chaynes, chain-smoker and former auto mechanic, **「** **RETIRED** **」** **!**

"All right, let's go back to the security room and get Clearwater." Rohan said while **「** **Achtung Baby, Act 3** **」** turned the wires back to normal, restoring power to the building. "Shinji and Rei are waiting for us."

Getting back was easier since they didn't have to worry about haywire security cameras anymore, and the duo made good time in being able to actually run back. Soon, the two were reunited with Rei and Shinji.

"All right, you guys ready to link up?" Shizuka asked before she heard someone cackle.

"So, all of you are here to try to stop me, hmm?" **「** **Poker Face** **」** came out of one of the overhead vents and did a three-point landing. The **「** **Stand** **」** then snapped its head upwards and looked at the group. Before it could say anything else, the group called out their **「** **Stands** **」**. Shinji ordered **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」** to point its carapace at the enemy **「** **Stand** **」** and activated its gravitational field, pulling **「** **Poker Face** **」** towards Shinji's **「** **Stand** **」**. Before they could celebrate, however, **「** **Poker Face** **」** twisted to the prone position in midair and bent its legs backwards until the feet practically hung over its head. Then, it fired its gun several times at the group before disappearing. While the group dodged most of the shots, one of them straight at Shinji before disappearing, covering his face in one of the masks and causing him to lose focus and dismiss **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」**.

"Hey, Shinji, are you OK?" Shizuka put her hand on Shinji's shoulder only for the boy to swat it away.

"Get the hell away from me!" Shinji yelled as **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」** appeared a little further down the hallway behind him, activated its gravity field for a couple of seconds before disappearing, which pulled Shinji and only Shinji away from the group. "You're all Clearwater's accomplices!"

"Damn it, kid! You should have just left him alone!" Rohan yelled. "He might have been able to pull off the mask by himself!"

Before Shizuka could say anything, she could feel herself being dragged forwards by **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」** , which manifested again right in front of Shinji. She, Rei, and Rohan tried crouching down and planting their feet to no avail. The three were soon airborne as they and the various burnt corpses behind them flew towards Shinji's **「** **Stand** **」**. Thinking quickly, the three linked their hands together, and Rohan used **「** **Heaven's Door** **」** to turn both Rei and Shizuka into books and wrote "I will fly backwards and stick to the wall". Meanwhile, Shizuka also used her power to give all three of them intangibility powers. While Shizuka and Rei flew backwards, phasing through the dead bodies on the way, Rohan continued to fly forward.

* * *

Shinji was confused. The one moment he was by his friends and Rohan Kishibe, only for them to disappear and replaced by impostors who were definitely Clearwater's minions. He managed to get away in time and call out his **「** **Stand** **」** to deal with them. Although he was disappointed about how the fake Shizuka and Rei managed to escape **「** **Black Hole Sun's** **」** pull, being able to get fake Rohan was a good start.

He watched apprehensively as the impostor Rohan and the bodies flew towards his **「** **Stand** **」**. If the enemy wouldn't get hurt from the spikes, the sheer weight of the corpses would be enough to crush him. Time seemed to slow down for Shinji as Rohan's impostor flew closer and closer to **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」** , only for him to phase through his **「** **Stand** **」** and barrel straight into the boy, tackling him to the ground while the corpses clumped around **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」**. The fake Rohan wasted no time planting his hand on Shinji's chin and made an upwards tearing motion.

* * *

"Wh-what happened?" Shinji asked Rohan as the mask crumpled to dust in the mangaka's hands.

"You got affected by Clearwater's **「** **Stand** **」** and tried to kill all of us!" Rohan yelled as he pulled Shinji up. "Now let's go get Shizuka and Rei down."

While Rohan undid his effects on Rei and Shizuka, Shinji noticed something else that could give them problems later.

"Guys, the security room door is open." Shinji said. "Looks like Clearwater escaped."

"Relax, Shinji." Shizuka said after getting down from the wall. "He's pretty old, so he can't get very far."

"Pilot Joestar tagged me while we were on the wall." Rei said. " **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」** is trailing him as we speak. Follow me."

Wasting no time, the group chased after Rei as they made their way downstairs and towards the front door, swerving away from several people who still had **「** **Poker Face's** **」** masks. Soon enough, Shinji could see the criminal half-hobbling and half-jogging, trying to get away from them.

"Hey, Rei, I'm going to give my **「** **Stand** **」** another shot." Shinji said to her in between breaths. "When I tap your shoulder, you need to withdraw your **「** **Stand** **」**."

"Understood." Rei replied as she continued running.

"All right, NOW!" Shinji tapped Rei on the shoulder and immediately summoned his **「** **Stand** **」**. What appeared, however, was not **「** **Black Hole Sun's** **」** beetle-like form, but rather something that resembled a shiny black hornet with a red eyes and a yellow orb at where the stingers are supposed to be.

 _What the hell?_ Shinji thought as he tried to give the new **「** **Stand** **」** the same commands he gave **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」**. Instead of slowly floating, the **「** **Stand** **」** flapped its wings and darted forward towards Clearwater. Then, it pointed the yellow orb at the old crook and the ball glowed red, sucking him back towards Shinji's new (or rather, evolved) **「** **Stand** **」**.

There was no spike impaling Clearwater when he made contact with the orb, just him sticking to the glowing red ball while he squirmed and tried to get off. Creedence Clearwater summoned **「** **Poker Face** **」** again. The **「** **Stand** **」** tilted the gun sideways, raised the weapon above its head, and squeezed off several potshots at Shinji's group while the **「** **Stand** **」** was also sucked towards the ball. Shinji and friends were prepared this time, however, as the shots passed through the four people thanks to **「** **Achtung Baby, Act 3's** **」** ability.

As they pulled closer and **「** **Poker Face** **」** kept firing, Shinji lowered his **「** **Stand** **」** to ground level, then jumped into the air and drew his right arm back. The boy let out a roar before sending a punch straight into Clearwater's face, sending blood and a tooth flying. Following closely behind, Rohan summoned **「** **Heaven's Door** **」** which turned Clearwater into a book. Rohan quickly wrote "I'll suffer a heart attack the next time I use my **「** **Stand** **」** " and quickly glanced through the pages. Satisfied after a quick reading, he slammed the book shut and turned Clearwater back to normal.

Creedence Clearwater, age 56 and an amateur stamp collector, **「** **RETIRED** **」** **!**

"Well, that was interesting." Shinji wiped the sweat off his brow. "What the hell was that anyway?"

"Looks like you **「** **Stand** **」** evolved, Shinji." Shizuka said. "Just like what happened to me twice."

"That's pretty neat! I guess I'll call my new **「** **Stand** **」「** **Black Hole Sun, Act 2** **」**." Shinji beamed as he turned to look at Rei, who seemed to be in shock with tears on her face.

"Rei, what's wrong?" Shinji asked as he approached her. "Is everything okay?"

"I-I do not know." Rei replied as she wiped her eyes and felt the bruise on her face with her slender fingers. "There is so much emotion inside me, and I do not know what they are."

"Well, how do you feel then?" Shinji asked her.

"I feel…relieved that this is all over. I also feel elated, as if I just defeated an Angel with my Eva. There's also this warmth that I believe comes from using my skills to help everyone contribute to this success." Rei replied as she turned to look at Shizuka and Rohan. "For the first time, I'm showing concern for another person besides the Commander. I just do not know how to express it all."

"You could try smiling." Shinji as he showed off his own smile. "That's always better than crying, especially after we just got out of a hostage situation."

Slowly, Rei began to pull the corners of her lips outwards and upwards. Soon, her mouth formed a line that could be described as a smile if one looked closely and measured the angles between the corners and the center of her mouth. Still, it was a smile nonetheless.

"All right kids, you guys can continue this sappy moment later." Rohan stepped in between the two. "We still need to find your two other friends and wake them up."

* * *

 **Convention Center Entrance**

"Shinji!" Misato called out as Shinji, Rei, Shizuka, Toji, Kensuke, and Rohan exited the building while escorted by Special Assault Team officers. She rushed past her Section Two bodyguards and wrapped the tall boy in a hug, only letting to after a minute or two. Meanwhile, Jotaro approached Shizuka and gave a quick smile and a pat on her left shoulder.

"You should probably give the Old Man a call when you can." Jotaro said. "He's worried sick."

"Thanks, Jotaro. How did you get in here anyway?" Shizuka smiled as she asked her guardian. Jotaro said nothing and simply pointed with his thumb; Shizuka looked towards that direction and saw Kaji give a quick wave while police held back reporters and the crowd. Shizuka nodded and reached into her purse, which was adorned with pacifier-shaped pins, until Jotaro put his hand on top of her arm and gestured towards a police detective that was walking towards them.

"They still need to ask you guys questions about Clearwater and Chaynes." Jotaro said. "Don't worry about those two, by the way. They'll be extradited and locked away until they die."

"Hey Kujo, you mind if I talk to you about something before my little police interview?" Rohan suddenly approached Jotaro from behind. "It's kind of urgent."

Jotaro let the detective take Shizuka while he and Rohan got into a Speedwagon Foundation ambulance to make sure nobody could listen in on them.

"All right, what's on your mind?" Jotaro asked.

"When I was going through Clearwater's memories, I noticed a certain word kept popping up inside the memories of the guy who hired him and Allison Chaynes." Rohan replied as he leaned closer to Jotaro. "Who or what is 'SEELE'?"

Jotaro's expression visibly darkened at the mention of that word. Before Jotaro could answer, however, a civil defense siren's wail pierced through the air.

" **「** **Yare yare daze** **」**." Jotaro muttered before leaning into the driver's compartment. "Driver, take us to the nearest shelter."

"God-FUCKING-damn it! An Angel just had to attack right now!" Misato was about to tear her hair out as she dragged Rei towards Shizuka and the police detective. "Hey, copper! I need that girl for official NERV business. Here's someone else you can interview, but make sure you guys get to a shelter first!"

* * *

 **Unknown Location**

"Gentlemen, it appears we have a major problem on our hands." Keel Lorenz addressed the rest of the five-man Human Instrumentality Committee. "I have received reports regarding two of our agents being neutralized."

"Perhaps we need more competent agents, then." The British representative chuckled. "We simply introduce harsher screening processes."

"That is not the issue." Lorenz said sharply before assuming a softer tone. "The issue is twofold. One: I was not notified of those two agents until one of our members brought it up during our last meeting with Ikari. Two: they were well-known criminals. Need I remind you all that we must maintain our appearance as a UN-sanctioned organization? Associating criminals will only damage that image."

"Well, I see your problem then." The American member said. "I suppose we do need to keep a tighter watch on our members. Accountability hasn't been the same since we stopped meeting in person."

"I agree! We must take measures before The Scenario is compromised!" The Russian member yelled. "I propose we call a meeting as soon as possible, Chairman. Any delay will only set us back. Leave Ikari out of this one too."

* * *

 **On the Next Chapter of Stand Up, Become Legend**

"The name's Mari Makinami. Nice to meet you all!"

"What? Another Angel already?"

"Otoishi, I need you to cancel your concert tomorrow night. It's important."

"I need the heaviest sniper rifle you got. I need to practice for the fight with that Angel."

"Commencing Operation Yashima! Eva Units 04 and 05, launch!"

 _Just remember your training. Three breaths. Shoot after third exhale._

* * *

Stand Name: **「** **Man in the Box** **」**

User: Allison Chaynes

Power: None

Speed: C

Range: A (varies depending on size of building)

Endurance: A

Precision: E

Development Potential: D

The **「** **Stand** **」** takes the form of a blue humanoid upper body with red bug-like eyes, and sharp teeth as well as a lower body consisting of what is best described as a cross between a spider's legs and an amoeba's pseudopod. **「** **Man in the Box** **」** is adorned with yellow lightning bolt symbols all over its body. Its modus operandi is to wrap its lower half around a building's distribution board and take control of the building.

 **Electrical System Control:** **「** **Man in the Box** **」** can manipulate any device that is plugged into the building's electrical system at will. This includes any portable electronics that is plugged in to charge batteries, and the effects persist after the device is unplugged. If a building has a robust security system including cameras, **「** **Man in the Box** **」** would essentially know everything that goes on inside. This power depends entirely on the building's own power supply. This means if no electricity is going into the building, **「** **Man in the Box** **」** is essentially useless.

 **Building Trap:** The building taken over by **「** **Man in the Box** **」** becomes impossible to escape due to two things. The first factor being all barriers such as walls, windows, and doors experience a significant increase in durability, preventing the victims from simply breaking down a window to escape. The second reason being an electrical field surrounding said barriers that kills anybody the Stand deems a threat.

* * *

Author's Note: As always, reviews and feedback are more than welcome. See you guys in August!


	7. Chapter 6 – Happiness is a Warm Gun I

**Author's Notes:** Well, I'm finally back. I know I said I'd continued this story in August, but some real-life stuff got in the way. Sorry for the delay. Enjoy the new chapter, everyone!

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own either franchises except OCs and original Stands. Evangelion belongs to Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara while JoJo belongs to Hirohiko Araki and Lucky Land Communications.

* * *

 **Greenwood Cemetery, New York City**

"Hey, papa is coming to visit again." An old man said as he slowly bent his right knee. The butler beside him gently held onto the old man's left arm and slowly eased him down until the rose bouquet in the old man's hands touched the ground in front of the headstone. The butler then helped the old man get back onto his feet and handed him his cane.

The old man graciously took the cane with his right hand and then turned his attention back to the grave in front of him. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, the youthful fires in them having been extinguished long ago. A minute or so passed in silence, with the only interruption being a chirping bird that brought a little life to the overcast day.

"Remember your newest sister? The little girl I adopted?" The old man said in a slow, trembling voice, the cane visibly shaking along with his hands. "She went off to war a couple of weeks ago. Not the kind of war your granddaughter is fighting, but something even worse. I'm so scared of losing her, just like how I lost you."

The old man's vision started to blur because of the tears that gathered in his eyes as he thought back to happier times.

"I shouldn't have let you come along no matter how hard you begged." The old man said, his voice becoming weaker. "If only you stayed back to take care of Holly, you'll still be with us today. I-I…"

The old man tried to speak, but only choked sobs came out. Every breath he took to try to calm himself down was immediately expelled as a sob while tears streamed down his cheeks. The cane clattered to the ground while the old man dropped to his knees, his hands holding onto the headstone.

Tears began to form in the butler's own eyes as he got down to one knee and rubbed his employer's back, which heaved like a stormy sea because of the old man's sobbing. There was nothing more the butler could do except attempting to comfort his employer and gaze upon the headstone that read "NICHOLAS GEORGE JOESTAR, 1940-1989".

* * *

 **6 Hours earlier**

NERV AFTER ACTION REVIEW OF COMBAT OPERATION AGAINST ANGEL SHAMSHEL

BY: CAPT KAWAJIRI, H

LCOL KATSURAGI: As you all know, I'm Lieutenant-Colonel Katsuragi, Operations Director of NERV and all that good stuff. Pilot Joestar, I know this is your first real AAR. Just remember all the mock ones you did in America. Don't be nervous and answer all the questions honestly. An AAR is supposed to be a candid discussion about what happened so we all can do better next time.

1LT* JOESTAR: Understood, ma'am.

LCOL KATSURAGI: Now, let's get started. What was supposed to have happened during this mission?

1LT JOESTAR: Ma'am, I was to pilot Eva Unit 04 and eliminate the Angel designated "Shamshel" before it could penetrate the GeoFront while minimizing civilian infrastructure damage.

LCOL KATSURAGI: Yeah, you just about summed up the gist of the mission. Anybody got anything else to add?

DR. AKAGI: I got nothing.

[OTHER PERSONNEL GAVE SIMILAR ANSWERS. TRANSCRIPTION NOT NEEDED.]

LCOL KATSURAGI: Damn it, Ritsuko, put that cigarette out! This is a non-smoking area! Anyway, what did actually happen?

1LT JOESTAR: Well, I did end up taking out that Angel, but it took me longer than I expected. I tried to go with the ranged options, but all it did was to piss off the Angel and make it attack me. We wrestled for a bit, and I ended up head-butting the Angel and then stabbing the core with my prog knife to kill the freak.

DR AKAGI: On the technical side, Eva Unit 04 sustained moderate damage to the arms during hand-to-hand combat. The repairs can be easily done within the day, though.

LCOL KATSURAGI: Good, good. Now, what went well?

1LT JOESTAR: Uhh…I killed the Angel and didn't die?

LCOL KATSURAGI: Come on, Shizuka, there's gotta be more than that.

1LT JOESTAR: Well, ma'am, the ground crew had Unit 04 all set up and ready to go by the time I got here. I was able to launch right away thanks to them. The prog knife also worked like a charm.

1LT IBUKI: According to police reports, there were no civilian casualties either. The evacuation procedures and shelters worked just as intended.

1LT AOBA: Eva Unit 04 engaged the Angel immediately upon sighting and showed intense effort to remain on the offensive throughout the fight. I think credit goes to Shizuka here for her fighting spirit despite this being her first mission.

DR AKAGI: I said this before, but there was little damage to Eva Unit 04, and Pilot Joestar did not show any abnormalities in her vitals beyond elevated heart and breath rates.

LCOL KATSURAGI: Congratulations on making it through your first official mission, Shizuka. At this moment in time, you're tied with Shinji and Rei in terms of kill count. My thanks for the support staff as well. Keep up the good work, everyone. Now, what could have been done better?

1LT JOESTAR: Ma'am, do transportation to my Eva Unit count?

LCOL KATSURAGI: Yes, the mission began the moment that siren sounded.

1LT JOESTAR: Well, there was a huge delay between the siren sounding and Eva Unit 04 actually launching. I appreciate the fact that you tried to give me a ride in your sports car, but there were way too many vehicles clogging the streets. What didn't help was the fact that the helicopter that was supposed to take me to NERV HQ took forever to show up. By the time I actually launched, the Angel already took out most of the city's defenses and started digging up the ground with its glowing tentacle things. How come they sent a helicopter anyway? I thought we have those Osprey things that are like way faster.

LCOL KATSURAGI: It was just mostly bad luck. Most of the aircrew had their day off, and a helicopter was the only thing we could scramble into the air on short notice. What didn't help was the Strategic Self-Defense Force flying all over the place, which prevented the pilot from flying the quickest path. I'll make sure this is addressed ASAP. Thanks for bringing it up.

1LT JOESTAR: Oh, and those ranged weapons I got? They were complete garbage. The assault rifle and gatling gun did jack all. I might as well chucked rocks at it! I did everything from the drills and the simulations. Aim at center of mass, fire in controlled bursts, blah, blah, blah. Pretty much all my shots hit, but nothing got past that damn AT field. I swear to God I heard it laughing when it whipped me with those glowing tentacle things.

DR AKAGI: Also, Pilot Joestar's sync ratio for this mission peaked at 54%. Eva Unit 04's movements were somewhat sluggish, and she had some issues grappling with the Angel as a result. Judging from the spiked vitals, she was pretty anxious during the fight. Past test results indicate anxiety as a factor which leads to lowered sync ratios. Correct me if I'm wrong about you being nervous, Pilot Joestar.

1LT JOESTAR: No. Dr. Akagi is right. I started to panic around the time I ran out of ammo, and I was nervous as hell the entire time I wrestled the Angel. I'm not saying I have an excuse, but I did just go from a hostage situation to fighting a giant monster. Plus it's my first time fighting one of those things. Maybe some pre-battle yoga or playing calm music would help?

LCOL KATSURAGI: Thanks for all your input. Anyone got anything else to add?

1LT IBUKI: Ma'am, UN and SSDF garrisons in the city suffered 73% casualties because of the delay in sending out Unit 04. The city itself also experienced significant property damage from the battle. Causes include the Angel's own attack, misaimed shots from Eva Unit 04's weapons, and hand-to-hand combat between Unit 04 and the Angel. The precise monetary amount in property damage is still being calculated by city authorities.

LCOL KATSURAGI: All right, that wraps things up. We have areas that rocked and areas that sucked. Make sure everyone gets some rest, eat, drink water, and whatever else you need to do. The next mission will come whenever the next Angel shows up. You are all dismissed.

* Ranks of Eva pilots are only assigned for pay purposes and do not reflect any command authority.

* * *

 **Misato's Office**

"Holy fuck, what a day." Misato muttered to herself as she dropped into her office chair and logged into her computer. "First a hostage situation, then an Angel attack."

Without any conscious thought, she opened the mini fridge under her desk and reached for a can of beer inside. Misato then stared at the can, debating whether she should drink or not.

 _I can't drink yet. I still need to write this stupid report._

 _I just need to relax. Besides, this wouldn't be the first time I drink and write._

 _I'm not allowed to drink on duty._

 _Nobody's going to know. The office is locked, and Commander Ikari won't be back for another day or two._

The debate in her own mind raged on as she kept staring at the can while cold air continued to flow out from the open fridge. Finally, after about 5 minutes, she shook her head, put the beer back in the fridge, and slammed the door shut. The first thing Misato saw after turning her attention to the screen was an email from NERV's UK branch.

"Flight has been arranged for the Sixth Child." Misato read the message out loud. "Will arrive at Narita by JST 1900 20 July 2015."

 _Good thing my calendar is clear tomorrow evening._ Misato thought as she downloaded the attachment containing the Sixth Child's personnel file. _I can go pick her up myself._

Misato then quickly wrote and sent off an email to US Forces Japan requesting assistance in defending the city until the JSSDF and UN forces could send replacements and finish repairing their defensive emplacements.

 _Now, let's get that report done. Now, how am I going to explain why Unit 04's head disappeared for a few seconds?_ Misato thought as she sent off that email. _Damn it, this is why I tell these kids to not use their Stands. Writing cover stories is such a pain in the ass._

* * *

 **Tuesday, After School**

 _Whoa. The new pilot's hot._ Was all Shinji could think when he, Rei, and Shizuka walked into the conference room at NERV HQ. In front of them were Misato and a green-eyed girl who wore her long brown hair in pigtails. She had sporty-looking glasses and wore a pink short-sleeved t-shirt that was just the right size to highlight her ample chest as well as khaki canvas shorts that ended a little bit above her knee which highlighted her long legs. When the new girl saw the other 3 pilots come in, she immediately stood up and walked over. _A little bit taller than me, and she seems pretty fit too. This is GREAT!_

"The name's Mari Makinami. Nice to meet you all!" She said with a friendly wave and proceeded to shake the other pilots' hands one-by-one. Once the introductions were done, all 5 sat down at the table.

"Mari, why don't you introduce yourself?" Misato asked. "Break the ice a little."

"Well, you all know my name already. Let's see now…I'm 17 years old. I was brought up at an orphanage in the UK." Mari said as she put up her running shoe-clad feet on the table and leaned back in her chair. "I got recruited by NERV when I was 12. Ooh, I finished high school early and now I'm working on my degree online! Besides piloting the Eva, I like reading comic books and cycling. And…that's it for now. You'll have to get to know me better to find out more."

"Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's get down to some business." Misato said. "First things first, Shinji and Rei, the repairs on your Eva Units are complete. The next mission will be handled by Shinji."

"Ok." Was all Shinji had said as he stared down at the table. Despite the earlier encouragements from Misato, doubt and bitterness towards Gendo weren't something Shinji could easily get rid of overnight. Still, Misato did help him understand his mission better, and the phone calls he had with Josuke also helped.

 _Remember what Cousin Josuke said._ Shinji thought to himself. _I need to look at this the same way he looked as his own adventures. I'm not doing this for dad; I'm doing this to protect the city._

"It's time for the next item in our agenda." Misato continued. "Rei, will you do the honors?"

Rei nodded and summoned **「** **Fly Me to the Moon** **」**.

"Well, Mari." Misato asked. "Do you see anything weird?"

"Yes, ma'am. That's a nice Stand you got there, Blue." Mari said casually. "So are you all Stand users? I hope you don't mind, but I don't like to show mine unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Well…yes." Misato was taken aback by how easily Mari guessed how they all have Stands. "And don't worry about it. The whole purpose of this little exercise was to brief you on one of my personal rules: don't use Stands during a mission unless authorized by me."

"Not a problem, ma'am." Mari said in a lighthearted manner as she tilted her head to the left, winked, and smiled. "This just makes the missions so much more fun."

"Well, your enthusiasm is definitely appreciated around here." Misato said. "Go suit up now, everybody. We have harmonics tests to run."

With Misato's command, everyone filed out of the conference room with Shizuka and Mari staying in the back of the group.

"Hey Mari, is it just me, or have I met you somewhere before?" Shizuka asked the new pilot. "You look really familiar."

The brown-haired girl took a quick look at Shizuka's face, and then shut her eyes as she pretended to scratch her chin as if she was deep in thought.

"Nope, don't think we ever met." Mari said as she opened her eyes again. "Now let's get this harmonics test over with. I want to go home."

At a park somewhere in Tokyo-3, a young woman with short auburn hair was relaxing while listening to some tunes. One of her hands gripped the Walkman on her lap while her other hand was tucked into a pocket on her shorts. Her head bobbed up and down as she followed along to the song's rhythm. Besides occasionally checking her watch, the woman was absolutely relaxed.

 _Maybe I should check out one of those MP3 players that just came out._ She thought as she adjusted her sunglasses. _I have enough vacation time to go to Akihabara, and I got quite a bit in the bank._

The woman, who looked like she was in her early twenties, checked her watch again (the time read 1745) and felt her phone vibrate soon after. With a practiced motion, she hit the pause button while her other hand took out the cell phone and flipped it open. She quickly scanned the text message before taking off her headphones and punched in a number on the keypad.

"This is Kirishima." She said barely above a whisper. "The tiger is loose in the woods."

The young woman immediately hung up and gathered her belongings.

 _Well, that part of the job is done._ She thought as she stood up and walked towards her car. _The others should be in position by now._

* * *

 **Wednesday Morning**

"The Americans are pretty impressive, Misato." Ritsuko said to her long-time friend and colleague. "They managed to send a full contingent all the way from Okinawa in less than a day. Fighter jets, missile batteries, and even ground troops to help defend the GeoFront."

"Tell me about, Ritsuko." Misato replied. "I bet Maya is having a field day staring and ogling at all those Marines."

"Actually, Maya doesn't like men at all." Ritsuko said as she sipped her coffee. "She plays for the other team."

"Huh? That kind of explains why she never hangs out with Hyuga and Aoba after work." Misato said. "I'm pretty sure we all saw it from a mile away. How'd you find out?"

"Well, I…umm…" Ritsuko lowered her eyes to the computer screen in front of her. "We got a problem. There's an unidentified flying object headed towards Tokyo-3."

"Let me guess…" A bead of sweat rolled down Misato's face as her heart picked up the pace.

"…aaaand it's Pattern Blue." Ritsuko said as she shook her head. "Damn it."

"What? Another Angel already?" Misato shouted. "Initiate emergency recall for all pilots! Prep Unit 01 to launch! Have the other 3 units on standby!"

"Do you want to contact the UN forces too?" Ritsuko asked. "The Angel hasn't done anything so far."

"Negative, if the Angel hasn't taken any hostile action, we don't need the UN to distract it." Misato replied. "Let's just wait and see what happens."

Shinji's agonized screams blasted over NERV's communication network as Misato looked at the screen in horror. As soon as Eva Unit 01 reached the surface, the diamond-shaped Angel twisted itself into a cone with the pointed end facing Unit 01 and fired off a bright violet beam. The beam burned through several buildings with easy before connecting with Unit 01's center of mass. In the cockpit, Shinji felt his chest both being speared through and cooked alive.

"OH! NO!" Shizuka yelled as she put her hands on her cheeks. "If the Angel adjusts the beam just a little, it'll destroy Unit 01's core."

"Lower the elevator!" Misato yelled. "Mission is now pilot retrieval."

"I can't!" Maya called out. "The beam melted the elevator mechanisms! It's no good!"

Thinking quickly, Shinji did a quick combat roll to the side and tried to dodge the beam, knocking over some buildings in the process. However, the Angel tracked Unit 01 and simply adjusted the beam to keep it trained on the Eva.

"Detonate the explosive bolts!" Misato commanded. "Shinji, jump in the hole! Get medical ready to receive the pilot!"

After Shinji was retrieved safe and sound, Misato decided to test the Angel's abilities while the rest of the Tactical Operations Center analyzed the Angel. After a few destroyed drones and rubber dummy Eva Units, Misato deduced the Angel worked off of movement. Meanwhile, the rest of the TOC team completed their analysis. With the data in hand, Misato called an emergency meeting.

"All right, listen up. The Angel, designated Ramiel, is powered by an internal plasma reactor that allows it to project an extremely powerful energy beam." Misato said as a holographic projection of the Angel appeared on the table. "Not only that, but it can rapidly change its form in order to respond to any threat within a spherical area around it and can engage multiple targets at once. Judging from the tests we ran, its range includes all of Tokyo-3 and parts of the city's outskirts, possibly further."

"Ramiel also possesses the most powerful AT-field we've seen yet." Ritsuko picked up from her colleague. "If the rare attack does slip past its defenses, it won't be able to penetrate the AT-field."

"That means even if we send all 4 Eva Units at once, the Angel will wipe them all out before we can make a dent." Misato continued. "Think of the Angel as a frog, except the frog is rabid, has a laser beam for a tongue, and can shoot the tongue at several places at once. If it senses anything moving, it will attack no matter what."

"So, what now?" Shigeru asked. "Just put up a white flag?"

"Of course not, I'm just trying to think of something." Misato thought. "Tell the UN and the SSDF to stand down for now…"

"Ma'am, we have a problem." A male officer with chin-length orange hair called out. "Looks like the Angel started to drill into the GeoFront."

"WHAT?" Misato yelled. "Bring up the scans!"

"Here you go, ma'am." The officer said as the holographic display showed the Angel extending a long piece of itself into the ground. "The Angel is using its reactor to superheat its drill portion in order to penetrate the GeoFront."

"Captain Kawajiri, how long do we have until it gets through?" Misato asked the long-haired officer.

"According to the MAGI's calculations, full penetration will occur at 0200 tomorrow morning." He replied.

"All right, we don't have that much time left." Misato said as she put her hand on her chin while folding her other arm in front of her torso. _Think, Misato, think! How can we defeat this thing without moving? Maybe we could try sniping it? No, the positron rifles we have aren't power enough…wait a second. I think I got it!_

"All right, I have a plan." Misato grinned as she slammed her fist into her open left hand. "Time to cash in that favor from the Strategic Self-Defense Force."

* * *

 **Jotaro's Office, Marine Life Sancturary**

"Ryoji, let me get this straight. Katsuragi just waltzed in and helped herself to a prototype JSSDF weapon and is going to use all of Japan's electricity to power the thing up so she can take out that Angel?" Jotaro raised an eyebrow as he spoke over the phone. "She's a pretty daring woman."

"That's Misato for you, always coming up with these crazy schemes to help save the world." Kaji said. "So, is that the craziest thing you ever heard or what?"

"Nope." Jotaro answered immediately. "I've seen way too many bizarre **「** **Stands** **」** over the years for me to consider this crazy."

"Nothing fazes you anymore, huh, Jotaro?" Kaji chuckled. "Anyway, I just saw some Speedwagon Energy guys in the GeoFront. Guess NERV is already setting up the power grid for the positron rifle. Thanks for sending them over."

"I only deal with the Speedwagon Foundation." Jotaro said. "Whatever Speedwagon Enterprises or its subsidiaries are doing is their own corporate business. That reminds me; I got a major loose end I need to tie up."

* * *

 **Osaka**

Akira Otoishi managed to restart his career from scratch after his release from prison. Even in a devastated world caused by the Second Impact, entertainers were in high demand thanks to the need for escapism, a need Akira was eager to fulfill. The rocker initially had some problems with his image thanks to his recent release from prison, but the quality of his music was able to redeem him in the eyes of publishers and his fans. By 2006, he became the most successful rock musician in Japan, a distinction he continued to enjoy even after the Angels attacked.

At that particular moment, Akira was off in his own world as his fingers danced along the strings of the guitar. His mind drifted off to a mystical realm of knights, dragons, magic, and princesses, as he concentrated on rehearsing for his next concert. To an outsider, the musician didn't really need to rehearse, but Akira always found faults in his own music.

 _The chord isn't right._

 _Shit, I screwed up the lyrics again._

 _Damn, that was off-tune!_

 _No, no, NO! There wasn't enough soul in that one!_

Akira's fingers picked up speed and danced with manic intensity over the guitar strings as he approached the climax of his piece, an ear-popping and soul-shattering guitar solo. Soon, the guitarist's fingers were flying over his instrument while his eyes remained firmly shut and his mouth gaped in a wordless scream. There wasn't a single hint of nervousness in his mind thanks to the long hours of practice that allowed Akira to lose himself in his music. Akira visualized the crowd roaring in excitement and his own shadow hovering over his fans thanks to the industrial-strength floodlights behind him. Sweat streamed down his forehead as the solo reached its climax, and he began panting both because of the exertion and for dramatic effect. In mere moments, the solo came to its natural conclusion, and Akira fell to his knees and raised his hands in the air in the familiar heavy metal horn gesture.

The long-haired guitarist opened his eyes and found his latest assistant looking at him with a cordless phone in her hand.

"Sir, a Jotaro Kujo has been trying to reach you." The young woman said right before he snatched the phone from her. "He called a bunch of times; left a whole lot of voicemail too."

"Fuck. What the hell does he want this time?" Akira muttered before reaching out for the phone and dialed Jotaro's work number.

"Dr. Kujo, what a pleasure." The sarcasm was heavy in Akira's voice. "You know I don't answer any calls during rehearsal."

"Cut the chatter. You need to listen to what I'm about to say very carefully." Jotaro spoke with his usual serious tone. "Otoishi, I need you to cancel your concert tonight. It's important."

"WHAT? What the hell, man?" Akira screamed into the phone. "There's no way in hell I'm cancelling this gig! My agent already booked a whole stadium! Do you have any idea how much money I'll lose if I cancel?"

"Damn it, Otoishi, this is more important than your money! Your concert is getting canned anyway because of the blackout, but the Japanese government too slow to let you know on time." Jotaro's rage-filled voice boomed over the phone's speaker. "Don't think about just moving the concert underground either. That gimmick you pull with **「** **Red Hot Chili Pepper** **」** at every show always end up breaking the power grid. If you pull that shit again, I'll have Dr. Higashikata make a very painful house call."

"All right, fine, fine. I'm not gonna play." Akira gulped as he remembered the last time he faced Josuke in a fight. "But listen, I might be able to help if the blackout is for what I think it is."

"You have thirty seconds to explain." Jotaro said curtly. "You take any longer, I'm hanging up."

"I'm not stupid; I saw what happened in Tokyo-3 on the news. Someone is going to use some kind of weapon to take out that giant diamond freak, right?" Akira said. "I'm sure the Speedwagon Foundation knows this already, but **「** **Red Hot Chili Pepper** **」** developed some new powers since our little fight 16 years ago. Those powers would be very useful for whatever stunt they're pulling."

For five long seconds, there was only silence from Jotaro's end. Akira wondered if he should just hang up before he suddenly heard the marine biologist's voice again.

"I'll set something up so you can give me a demo of your new powers." Jotaro said. "Use **「** **Red Hot Chili Pepper** **」** to beam yourself over to the Tokyo-3 train terminal in 30 minutes. If you waste my time, Josuke is going to know about this."

* * *

 **Tokyo-3**

"All right, getting the positron rifle, check. Requesting fire support from UN and JSSDF forces, check." Misato said enthusiastically as she crossed off items in her notepad. "Borrowing observation plane and satellites from the Americans, check. Warning the Japanese government about the blackout, check."

Misato walked as she tapped her pen on the side of her head. She looked up the hill and saw that NERV technicians were busy working with Speedwagon Energy personnel in setting up the power grid that would focus all of Japan's electricity into their trump card, the positron cannon. Meanwhile, combat engineers from the United States Marine Corps were constructing the sniper's perch that would house Eva Unit 05. While she projected an air of confidence to those around her, Misato was extremely worried deep down inside.

"You know, this is one hell of a gamble." Ritsuko had told her earlier. "What if it's still not enough to get past the AT-Field?"

"It has to." Misato replied as she, or anyone else from NERV, simply didn't know the power yield required to break the AT-Field and destroy the Angel. "There's no other way."

"A do-or-die situation?" Ritsuko chuckled. "Just another day at NERV."

Misato quickly shook her head and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She turned her attention to the dirt road beside her and saw Kaji driving a Jeep full of Speedwagon Energy employees. Misato noticed that one of them wore his long purple hair in a ponytail and had his hardhat pulled down to cover his eyes. As he drove by, Kaji gave her a quick wave, a gesture Misato gladly returned.

"Constructing the sniper nest, check. Constructing the heat shield from spacecraft material, check." Misato said as she closed her eyes briefly. "Looks like preparations for Operation Yashima are going smoothly."

"Commencing Operation Yashima! Eva Units 04 and 05, launch!" Misato visualized herself yelling out the command that would begin the latest battle to decide the planet's fate. _No, that's not right. The Evas should already in position when the operation begins, and it's not Units 04 and 05, it's Units 01 and 05 that are going to be the stars of the show. Good thing Shinji and Mari volunteered for this mission. Pretty brave of those two._

* * *

Mari Makinami walked into the gun range that was open to all NERV personnel and found it empty save for the safety personnel and the instructor that ran the facility.

"Can I help you, Pilot Makinami?" The firearms instructor asked her.

"I need the heaviest sniper rifle you got. I need to practice for the fight with that Angel." Mari replied. "What do you got?"

"Bolt action or semi-auto?" The instructor asked. "How's this helpful for the operation anyway?"

"Bolt action, since I need to manually cycle the fuses." Mari replied as she crossed her arms. "Firing something similar to the positron rifle helps me with the muscle memory."

"Ah, I think I might have something for you." The instructor replied. "Come on over, and you can sign out a MacMillan Tac-50. The security teams use these to stop vehicles just in case some crazies try to attack with car bombs."

"This is perfect!" Mari grinned at the thought at firing a very familiar weapon. "Thanks for your help!"

After getting the rifle and some rounds, Mari quickly went over to an empty lane and lied down with the weapon. She inserted a magazine and pushed the bolt forward with a satisfying _click_.

 _"_ _Let go of everything else and just relax. Focus on the way your body is lined up. Are you comfortable?"_ Mari remembered the words from one of her previous coaches. _"Don't worry about anything else in the world. When you're looking through that scope, it's just you and the target."_

 _Just remember your training. Three breaths. Shoot after third exhale._ Mari thought as she followed the breathing procedure. Any thoughts and doubts trickled out of her mind as she took the three breaths. On the third exhale, she held in her breath and slowly pushed her trigger finger down.

 _BANG!_

Mari then gently let go of the trigger then cycled in a new round.

 _Off to a good start._ Mari thought as she fired off another shot. _Just gotta keep practicing for a little longer._

* * *

On a mountain outside Tokyo-3, 2 men wielding assault rifles trudged along in the forest as they carefully scanned their surroundings. One of them had a snake rod patch on his plate carrier that signified his status as a medic while the other didn't have any patches.

As the two men slowly and silently moved along, they saw two people up ahead wearing black balaclavas and JGSDF flecktarn combat uniforms and bush hats. One sentry raised his Type 89 rifle while the other one kept his slung in front of him.

 _Great, here we go._ The medic thought as he signaled his companion to halt while one of the sentries called out the same thing in accented English.

"Advance one to be recognized!" The sentry with the slung rifle called out. "Put your weapon in the air!"

Knowing the routine, the medic held his rifle in the air with both hands and slowly walked forward until he was told to stop.

"Victor, victor." The sentry said in a quieter tone.

"Oscar, oscar." The medic replied.

"Delta, delta." The sentry said while his companion lowered the rifle.

"Kilo, kilo." The medic replied as he grinned.

"All right, you're clear." The sentry reached out with his right hand, which the medic gladly shook. "Come on over."

The two men followed the Japanese sentries to what resembled a campsite with simple hoochies and several other people dressed like the sentries. The only one who wasn't wearing a balaclava was a young woman with short auburn hair who let her bush cap hang loosely behind her head.

"Looks like the _gaijin_ didn't get lost in the woods." Kirishima grinned as she saw her two guests approach. "What a miracle."

"Sergeant First Class Kirishima, good to see you again." The medic said. "You guys need any help with security?"

"Nah, we got this part covered. Thanks for asking." Kirishima replied. "Come on over, and I'll show you guys where to set up."

The three people then walked a bit further into the woods until they reached a cliff side with no trees that gave them a perfect view over the city. The non-medic put down one of his bags and reached inside to pull out a tripod and a large target designator while the medic summoned something resembling an enlarged pen.

"You know, that big fucker looks pretty cool if he wasn't trying to wipe out all of humanity." The non-medic said as he put the designator together and started fiddling with the device to test it. "The thing reminds me of the diamond on my wife's wedding ring."

"Just take a picture or something and show your wife when you get back." The medic said as he used the giant pen to draw a perimeter around his friend. "There, all done. One click of a button, and **「Protect Ya Neck** **」** is going to work its magic."

"Are you sure the shield is strong enough to block the Angel's beam?" Kirishima asked. "NERV reports say it's extremely powerful."

" **「Protect Ya Neck** **」** blocked direct hits from artillery before. Worst comes to worst, we give our lives for the good of humanity and all that good stuff." The medic replied as he drank from his water bottle. "Unlimited liability and all that, right?"

"Say, how did we end up with this tasking anyway?" The non-medic asked. "Not that I don't appreciate the mission, but I'm just curious."

"It's on a need-to-know basis and you guys clearly need to know, so I figure I'd tell you sooner or later. NERV wanted something to distract the Angel with as part of their 'Operation Yashima' and ended up borrowing a bunch of drone fighters from the Americans and several Russian Scarab C batteries that were attached to the UN force." Kirishima replied. "Problem is, of course, they need a joint terminal attack controller to tell them exactly where to hit. They were going to fly in a JTAC from somewhere else until I mentioned to the right people there's a JTAC already in the city. Long story short, you ended up doing this instead of…you know, your regular stuff."

"Benefits of being a secret squirrel." The JTAC grinned. "If you want to know about your mission, you get to know your mission. All right, I'm all set up here. Time for some lunch."

"Some of my boys are due for food too; I'll send them your way so they can get some sunlight." Kirishima said as she walked away. The two men pulled out bags from inside their rucksacks and tore them open.

"Goddamn it! Fucking baked cherry dessert!" The medic sighed as he looked inside his bag. "I wonder if the SSDF guys are down for some trading."

"You know, this feels like a picnic." The JTAC said as he chewed into his rations. "Just one with automatic weapons and an Angel hanging **「** **menacingly** **」** nearby."

* * *

 **A couple of hours later…**

 _Mori-mori-morioooooh-cho Radiooooo~_

"Good afternoon, Morioh, this is your neighbor Kai Harada. Just a gentle reminder to turn off all your lights and appliances at midnight tonight." The announcer's deep soothing voice blared from the radio in Josuke's office. "Remember, tonight's blackout is for the folks at NERV fighting the good fight."

Josuke packed his bag as he continued to listen to the radio. He took another look around his office to make sure he didn't forget anything, and then summoned **「** **Crazy Diamond** **」** to turn off the radio. Before the Stand could hit the power button, however, an announcement caught his attention.

"We now have confirmation that Morioh's own Shinji Ikari will be a part of tonight's operation." Kai Harada's voice said. "From all of us here at Morioh-cho Radio, good luck tonight!"

 _Better give Koichi and Okuyasu a call when I get back._ Josuke thought as he turned off the radio. _I'll let mom know too._

* * *

 **NERV HQ**

"Hey Mari, are you nervous?" Shinji asked Mari as they ate together in NERV's central cafeteria.

"Yeah, a little bit. Anybody who say they're not nervous before this kind of missions is a liar." Mari replied in her usual cheerful tone. "I just don't let it get to me. Besides, I'm the one who'll do the sniping, so I need to relax. Enough about me, how are you feeling?"

"Yeah, I'm honestly pretty nervous about this one." Shinji replied. "It's just so much to take in, you know? Misato and the others' encouragement helped a bit, but I still can't shake the feeling of being scared."

"Like I said before, fear and anxiety are perfectly natural responses to situations like this." Mari said. "Don't get too beat up about it. Just do what you're told to the best of your ability."

"Right, I just need to pop up with my shield when I get the signal. Just gotta focus on that." Shinji said to himself. "Say, why do you pilot the Eva anyway?"

"Why not? It's fun, challenging, and a one-in-a-billion chance of a lifetime. Or maybe I just really like fighting." Mari chuckled. "What about you?"

"At first it was because of Rei. She was injured, but my dad still wanted her to go out there and fight, so I took the bullet for her." Shinji replied. "Now, I'm not too sure. I know my dad won't let me leave or quit, but I've also to grown to like this city and even the people in NERV a little bit. My cousin Josuke said that he and his friends once used their **「** **Stands** **」** to protect their town from a serial killer, and I think it's rubbing off on me."

"So what you're trying to say is that you're doing this because you can't leave and you actually want to protect this city?" Mari said. "This cousin of yours sounds like a very noble man."

"Yeah, I guess it's like that." Shinji scratched his head and smiled. "Cousin Josuke is a pretty cool guy. When I was little, he used his school holidays to help my aunt raise me."

"Shinji and Mari, how're you guys doing?" The two suddenly heard Misato's voice. "Had a good meal?"

"Yes, ma'am." Mari replied.

"Good, you still have a couple of hours to go before you have to prepare for the mission. Relax in the mean time until I call you guys." Misato said as she approached the table and pulled out some kind of recorder. "By the way, I got this from the PR department. It's for you, Shinji."

 _"_ _Hey, it's your old buddies from school. Can't believe you're an Eva pilot, man. Go kick that Angel's butt tonight!"_

 _"_ _Mr. Ikari, this is the mayor of Morioh. On behalf of this town, I would like to wish you success on your mission."_

 _"_ _Hey there, it's Hikari. I'm calling on behalf of the class to wish you good luck…"_

 _"_ _Hi Shinji, it's Aunt Tomoko, I would just like to say I'm very proud of you…"_

 _"_ _Hey, man. It's Toji and Kensuke…"_

 _"_ _This is Mr and Mrs Hirose…"_

 _"_ _Yo, it's Okuyasu…"_

 _"_ _Josuke here…"_

Shinji grinned ear-to-ear as he listened to all the voice messages. For that brief moment in time, he wasn't worried about the mission thanks to the encouragement of his friends and family back both in Morioh and Tokyo-3.

 _"_ _That day, you went into the Eva not just to protect Rei or to obey your father, but also to protect this beautiful city and everyone who lived in it."_ Shinji remembered Misato's words from a few weeks ago. _"Whenever you're in doubt about why you're doing this, just remember this night."_

"Thank you, Misato." Shinji said gratefully. "I really appreciate it."

"It's really nice having people cheering you on before a mission, isn't it?" Mari said. "I've been there before too."

* * *

 **Near Midnight**

On a mountain just outside of Tokyo-3, Kirishima's team stood sentry around the JTAC as he pointed at the Angel with the target designate and got to work.

"How're you doing, man?" The medic asked his friend as he looked down at the Angel hovering **「** **menacingly** **」** above Tokyo-3.

"Got the range, got the coordinates, and I'm transmitting them right now." The JTAC replied. "Now, we just wait for the fireworks to start."

"Good luck." The medic tapped his buddy's shoulder as he walked away.

"Hey, don't say it to me. Those Eva pilots need it the most, especially her." The JTAC said. "She's the one that's doing the sniping."

"In any case, let's hope we make out of this in one piece." The medic summoned his pen-shaped **「** **Stand** **」** and clicked the button on top. Translucent walls of yellow light sprung up from all the places the medic drew lines earlier during the day and formed a barrier surrounding their position. " **「Protect Ya Neck** **」** will keep us cozy in here."

Elsewhere in a camp outside Tokyo itself, a Russian Lieutenant wearing a UN armband gently shut the door of the command trailer behind him. He marched up to a desk where his commanding officer sat and saluted.

" _Tovarishch Polkovnik_ , we have the targeting data." The Lieutenant reported. "All batteries awaiting your order to fire."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." The Colonel replied as he put his hand over the phone handset in front of him. "We have two minutes remaining. Return to your post and wait for further instructions."

At the Narita airport, several Marine Corps FQ-47 Unmanned Combat and Surveillance Craft took off into the night sky while other UN aircraft were put on high alert. The officer in charge of the UN contingent paced nervously as he looked at his watch while the UCAV crew reports came through the radio.

Meanwhile, US Navy P-8 observation aircraft flew just outside the Angel's effective range while satellites monitored the city in orbit. Their data gave Misato a perfect live feed of the situation on the ground.

On the sniper's nest itself, Mari woke herself from a half-trance and made final adjustments to her Eva as she lined up the targeting scope with the Angel. Shinji crouched in the dugout right in front of the sniper nest as he waited anxiously and looked on at the mission clock. _One minute to go._ Shinji thought. _I just need to trust in the people around me doing their jobs, and I need to give it my all too._ In a purpose-built hut behind the sniper's nest, Akira Otoishi practiced with his guitar while **「** **Red Hot Chili Pepper** **」** hovered in front of him, surrounded by crackling arcs of electricity. Meanwhile, Shizuka and Rei waited in their own dugouts with NERV positron rifles, ready to assist their teammates as necessary.

In NERV HQ, the staff looked at their displays anxiously while Misato silently counted down the seconds.

 _Five._ The Russians armed the missiles while their Colonel picked up the handset.

 _Four._ The Marine drone operators armed their crafts' payload.

 _Three._ Mari flicked off the safety.

 _Two._ **「** **Red Hot Chili Pepper** **」** put its hands on the transformer as it got ready to do its work.

 _One._ Kaji lit up another cigarette.

"Commence Operation Yashima!" Misato commanded. "Pull back the observation planes!"

On the mountainside outside Tokyo-3, the commandos noticed the US Navy planes pulling out while the mountains around Tokyo-3 open up, revealing a myriad of automated artillery emplacements and missile batteries.

"And. Here. We. Go." The JTAC waved his right hand dramatically.

======= To Be Continued ====|\|===

* * *

 **On the Next Chapter of Stand Up, Become Legend**

"Mr. President, NERV has commenced Operation Yashima."

"OH! NO! The Angel intercepted that shot!"

"Shinji, your shield is completely melted!"

"I…need…to cover her…with my own Eva…if I have to!"

" **「** **Red Hot Chili Pepper** **」** has one more trick up its sleeve."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** As always, reviews and feedback are more than welcome.


	8. Chapter 7 – Happiness is a Warm Gun II

Author's Note: I'll be updating on a monthly schedule from now on because of real-life commitments and to make sure future chapters have good quality. In the mean time, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

Disclaimer: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure belongs to Hirohiko Araki and Lucky Land Communications while Evangelion belongs to Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara.

Gmx: Mikitaka will make an appearance later on as well as get a mention in this chapter. As for his species, let's just say he's not a member of the First Ancestral Race.

* * *

 **White House Situation Room**

Funny Valentine surveyed the large screen on the other end of the Situation Room with satisfaction. The assets he sent to Tokyo-3, either requested by NERV or on his own initiative, were working hard to produce a live feed of activities in the city as well as the impending Operation Yashima. The screen was divided into several areas, each showing footage from a different sources. There were surveillance satellites, Navy P-8s, UAVs, and a U-2 shadowing Tokyo-3 high in the Earth's atmosphere. What caught the President's attention the most were two large panels on the center of the screen labeled **「Inspector Deck」** and **「Ray Kwon」**. Each panel displayed live feeds taken by helmet-mounted cameras from what appeared to be a mountainside outside Tokyo-3.

"Excellent work as always, General." Valentine patted the shoulder of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs before turning to the Secretary of Defense. "Madame Secretary, is the contingency in place?"

"Yes, Mr. President." The Secretary of Defense replied. "All our assets are ready on your orders."

"Mr. President, I must object to this contingency of yours!" The Secretary of State suddenly spoke up. "Aiming the entire nation's nuclear and N2 arsenal will cause a major international incident! We have enough of those warheads to destroy Japan several times over. This plan is nothing short of a genoci…"

Before the Secretary of State could finish, he was suddenly picked up by some invisible force and lifted into the air. While he and some people of the room panicked at the paranormal occurrence, the rest saw a silver humanoid being with long rabbit-like ears lifting the politician by his collar and simply went on with their tasks.

"Major, how long do we have until Operation Yashima?" The President asked.

"Ten minutes, sir." The officer manning the workstation replied.

"Good, let's go take a walk, Mr. Secretary." The President said as he went to the door with the silver being carrying the Secretary of State following closely behind. The staff carried on their work in tense silence for a few minutes before President Valentine and a visibly shaken Secretary of State returned.

"You returned just on time, Mr. President." The Secretary of Defense informed him. "NERV has just commenced Operation Yashima."

"Good, take a seat and relax, everybody." The President poured himself a glass of water. "This is going to be a good show."

* * *

Tokyo-3's skyline glowed despite the blackout from the sheer amount of missile and artillery fire that was directed at the Angel hanging **「menacingly」** above the city. It was all futile, however, as the rounds were either blocked by the Angel's powerful AT-field or sliced apart by its powerful energy beam and exploded harmlessly in mid-air. Not giving the automated loading systems any time to reload, the Angel half-twisted and half-folded into a cone before firing off another beam that scythed through three mountains.

"It's no good!" Maya called out. "Batteries 5, 6, and 7 have been completely vaporized!"

Over the din of explosions, jet engines can be heard by the citizens who ventured to the rooftops as the FQ-47 fighter drones zoomed through the air and let loose the their N2-tipped air-to-ground missiles. Reacting almost instantly, the Angel reformed its diamond shape and shot the missiles out of the sky, creating an exceptionally bright and loud fire display. Before the operators at Okinawa could react, a beam sliced through the drones, causing them to explode in midair.

"Shit, our birds just got blown out of the sky!" Misato heard the Marine commander's voice over the comms. "The second wave is almost there!"

"No reason to panic just yet, everyone." Misato said calmly but steadily. "Everything we are doing so far is to distract the Angel to let the positron cannon charge up. Ritsuko, how's Mari doing?"

"She seems way too calm for this situation. Her vitals haven't changed at all since the mission started. Shinji, Shizuka, and even Rei are showing elevated heart rates." The female scientist replied. "As for the cannon, it's charging faster than expected. Not sure why, but it's definitely working in our favour. Before you ask, yes, I double checked. There's nothing wrong with the instruments measuring the rifle's power level."

* * *

As much as 15% of generated electricity is lost in transmission. The factors affecting power loss include, but not limited to, material of the conductors, atmospheric conditions, and length of the transmission lines. Despite the best efforts of engineers, losing power during transmission is inevitable due to the basic laws of physics.

 **「Red Hot Chili Pepper」** does not have that problem.

One of the first powers Akira's Stand developed after his release from prison was becoming a perfect conductor. As Red Hot Chili Pepper inserted itself into the transformer in the middle of the hut behind the sniper's nest, the Stand was able to pull 100% of the electricity generated in Japan that night into itself and transfer that energy to Mari's positron rifle. Due to the perfected efficiency, the weapon charged at a rate exceeding NERV's estimates.

Mari drummed her fingers on her Eva's controls as she watched the Angel blast a wave of Russian surface-to-surface missiles out of the sky. She had manually adjusted her rifle's scope to train on the exact center of the Angel and waited patiently for her rifle to charge to full power. _No point stressing out over something I can't control._ The girl thought as she whistled a little tune while the sky continued to be lit up by explosions and energy beams.

"Missile batteries 1 through 4 are gone!" Maya's increasingly panicked voice blared from the speakers as the power gauge reached 50%.

"Red Crown, be advised. Another squadron is down." A Marine announced as the power hit 75%. Mari simply cranked her neck and stretched her shoulders. "Manned assets to be deployed pending approval."

"It's no good! We've lost 80% of all artillery and missile batteries! The Angel continues to penetrate the GeoFront's armor plating!" Maya was beginning to lose it. Mari thought she heard the woman trying to hold back tears during her transmission. The pink-clad Eva pilot glanced at the power readings and noticed that it was at 90% and climbing. With a practiced gesture, she settled down in her seat and put her finger over the trigger. She peered at the scope display with her right eye open and began her breathing drills.

 _In. Out._

 _In. Out._

 _In. Out halfway. Hold._ Mari gently pushed down on her trigger finger while the Angel was busy demolishing some more missile batteries on a mountain side. At that moment, her mind was a total blank. No memories, no thoughts, just the crosshairs and the Angel in the middle of it. Her brief moment of zen was interrupted by a phantom kick against her right shoulder from the positron cannon's recoil pushing on Eva Unit 05.

"Unit 05 has fired the weapon!" Makoto Hyuga announced, and the command center held their collective breaths. Even at the speed of light, the beam felt like an eternity as it shot towards the Angel.

 _This is it._ Misato thought as her fists tightened. _Do or die._

Just as the beam was about to reach the Angel's AT field, the creature suddenly fired a beam of its own. The two columns of deadly burning hot energy collided against each other and formed a massive explosion, dousing the city and the surrounding area in a cruel mockery of daylight for a few seconds while vaporizing several buildings in the surrounding area. As the night grew dark again, the command center's staff could only stare with their jaws open in despair as the smoke cleared only to reveal the Angel was unscratched.

"This is it, isn't it?" Maya broke the silence. "We're doomed. The Angel is going to destroy the positron cannon in the next move."

"No, not yet!" Misato commanded mainly to reassure herself. "Rei, Shizuka, get out of your hiding spots and engage the Angel with your firearms! Do not use the NERV positron rifles until ordered to do so. Alternate firing pattern. Move!"

Eva Unit 04 punched through the concrete barrier covering her dugout and started firing at the Angel in controlled bursts in a desperate effort to buy Shinji time. The rounds bounced harmlessly off the AT-field as the Angel shifted, seemingly noticing her. Just then, Rei started firing from another direction, giving Shizuka time to duck back down and reload. In the meantime, the city's remaining emplacements continued to rain whatever fire they could on the Angel.

"Reloading." Shizuka heard Rei over the radio. Taking this as her cue, she reemerged and started firing at the Angel again. Meanwhile, more missiles fired by the Russians began their descent upon Tokyo-3 towards the Angel, adding to the meager resistance put up by NERV. Shizuka glanced up briefly at the missiles just before the Angel contorted into a giant crystalline boomerang and fired two beams. The Angel's top portion pivoted to intercept all the missiles while the bottom portion stayed still while it aimed at Shizuka. Judging from the sheer power she's seen earlier, Shizuka realized even ducking down wouldn't help her, so the girl did the only thing she could, authorization be damned.

" **「Achtung Baby Act 3」**!" She commanded, and her Stand turned herself as well as Unit 04's portions above the shoulder intangible right before the beam hit. Even in her state, Shizuka felt everything around her shaking viciously along with an ear-popping roar before everything went dark. She deactivated her Stand and tried to contact Misato.

"This is Shizuka. My Eva got hit badly and I got de-synched." She said. "Can someone hook me back up?"

"Negative, your Eva is showing severe damage all over. There's a 60% chance you could die from feeling suddenly feeling so much pain." She heard Ritsuko's voice. "You're going to have to sit out of this one since we have too much going on here."

During the call between Shizuka and Ritsuko, the Angel then turned its attention to Rei, who continued to fire and only ducking down at the last second before the Angel hit. Unlike Shizuka, Rei felt her entire body burning from the Angel's energy beam as well as being thrown all over the cockpit during the explosion. She felt her skull rattle followed by a sharp pain on the back of her head before her entire world went dark.

"The Angel disabled both Eva Unit 00 and 04!" Maya was almost hysterical by that point. "Data feed from Pilot Joestar has been lost. Pilot Ayanami is unconscious!"

"There is no time for a rescue mission!" Misato said. "Get me UN Command, Ministry of Defense, AND US Forces Japan. Tell them to sortie as many fighter flights as they can. We need to buy Shinji and Mari time!"

* * *

The Strategic Air Command was the segment of the United States Air Force responsible for all American nuclear bombers and long-range missiles during the Cold War. In the event of a nuclear confrontation with the Warsaw Pact, the SAC was saddled with the responsibility to rain unholy nuclear death on the other side of the Iron Curtain. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, their primary target, the SAC was disbanded. Its death was short-lived, however, thanks to the Second Impact. In the aftermath of the global catastrophe, Strategic Air Command was resurrected as a response to a rapidly destabilizing world and the looming Angel threat and resumed its Cold War-era mandate as well as taking charge of all space-based weaponry. Equipped with large quantities of both nuclear and N2 warheads, the SAC was widely considered to be second only to NERV in terms of threat level against the Angels.

While Misato requested help from US Forces in Okinawa, a transmission was sent from the Pentagon to Strategic Air Command facilities scattered throughout the United States. Dozens of bombers carrying nuclear as well as N2 weaponry took off into the air towards the Pacific Ocean while nuclear missile silo crews went about their work.

In the Situation Room, President Valentine's intense blue eyes darted between the large screen showing the situation in Tokyo-3 and the command console in front of him which had a keyboard and a large red button encased in hard plastic.

"Mr. President, our assets have been mobilized as per your orders." The Secretary of Defense said. "The situation in Tokyo-3 has deteriorated somewhat."

"No, the situation in Tokyo-3 is definitely not well. Thanks for the reminder." Valentine told his staff. "Still, things aren't quite grim enough to execute the _contingency_."

He then shone a laser pointer at the satellite feed.

"See that? They still got their main weapon and the operator." Valentine stated. "As long as NERV can keep that thing in action, they still have a fighting chance, and we won't have to use the _contingency_."

"Let's just hope all the distractions they throw at the Angel, including the lives of our own men and women soon, will buy enough time for _her_ to make another shot." The director of the CIA said. "The fate of all of humanity is at stake, after all."

* * *

"The Angel has penetrated 95% percent of GeoFront armor! All automated batteries in Tokyo-3 have been neutralized by the Angel." Maya announced as a tears streamed down her face. "We…we only have the UN air and missile assets to rely on now."

"We still have a shot at this, everybody." Misato said, but her reassurances rang hollow even in her own mind. "The positron rifle is already at 80% power. Mari will be able to take the killing shot this time."

"Ma'am, something is happening with the Angel!" Shigeru said. "It looks like it's charging up again."

"Shinji, get your shield ready!" Misato ordered.

 _Damn you, dad. Damn you for dragging me into this shit!_ Shinji thought as he acknowledged Misato's orders and readied his shield. _But there's no backing out now, if I don't do this, Mari will die, and we'll lose our only shot at destroying the Angel. I'm NOT running away from this!_

Soon enough, Shinji heard the Angel's telltale screeching that signaled another attack, and he quickly stood up holding the shield in front of him. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth as he felt the beam hit and began to push Unit 01 backwards. He heaved and grunted to keep himself from getting blown over as he felt his Eva Unit's feet getting pushed back further. An intense pain came over his arms while Unit 01 fought to resist the sheer pressure and force exerted by the Angel's energy beam. Several vessels in Unit 01's arms burst open along with weak points in Eva Unit 01's armor, spraying high-pressure LCL into the air. For Shinji, it was if his own arms were tearing themselves apart. He started to scream again because of the unbearable pain.

Under the intense heat, the shield began to melt and splash Eva Unit 01 with droplets of molten metal. With a rapidly dissolving shield and intense pain, Shinji was blown backwards over Mari and slammed into the transmission structures used to funnel all of Japan's electricity into the positron rifle. Eva Unit 01 crashed into the ground with a series of deafening bangs and crunches before coming to a stop facing the sky.

"Mari, take the shot now!" Misato ordered, and Mari fired the positron cannon right on cue. The beam sliced through the night sky and made contact with the Angel's powerful AT-field. For what was probably the longest two seconds in Misato's life, an orange glow filled Tokyo-3's skyline as the AT-field struggled to keep the powerful positron beam at bay. Ultimately, the beam won out and tore through the field like tissue and impacted against the Angel, showering the surrounding area in a giant bright explosion.

"Did-did we do it?" Misato asked as sweat dripped down her face. "Someone give me an update, damn it!"

The officers in the command center quickly got to work to get a visual feed or any scans on the area, but as the smoke cleared, the Angel's **「menacing」** diamond shape came into everyone's view. Although there were deep cracks all over the Angel's body from the positron cannon, they were being rapidly repaired by the Angel's own body.

"No…we can't charge the positron cannon with the electrical systems all destroyed." Maya said weakly while shaking. "It's all over."

 _That's not quite true._ Kaji thought as he looked dispassionately at the tactical display while he recalled the demonstration he attended with Jotaro.

Not only did **「Red Hot Chili Pepper」** have the power to absorb electricity to make itself more powerful, but it also developed the ability to transfer any stored power to other objects or systems. As long as Akira Otoishi had access to food and water to maintain a minimum energy level required for survival, his Stand was able to function as a **「living battery」**. At the same time Maya was despairing, Akira's Stand dove into the ruined electrical structures and continued to absorb electricity from all over Japan. With the Stand's direct intervention, electrical power flowed much faster towards Tokyo-3 while he played a faster song to express the sheer power he was absorbing into himself.

In the meantime, Misato paced back and forth as she kept glancing at the tactical display.

"What the hell is this? Why isn't it attacking again?" She asked out loud to no one in particular. "It already destroyed the only way to keep the positron cannon going. There's nothing we can do to damage it now. Where was that damn air support when we needed it?"

"Maybe it decided that Mari was no longer a threat and to continue its original mission to channel through the GeoFront?" Ritsuko said. "Scans are showing the drill increasing in speed. According to the new calculations, it will achieve full penetration in ten minutes instead of within the next hour or so."

Just then, a low rhythmic rumbling noise came out of the central tactical display's speakers. It sounded like a demented mating call from a colossal animal.

"That thing is laughing at us, isn't it?" Misato asked in a bemused fashion. "The kind of explains why it's not attacking anymore…"

"Ma'am, I'm patching through an urgent call." Captain Kawajiri, Misato's personal assistant, suddenly interrupted. "It's from the Prime Minister's office."

"What? What the hell is he calling for?" Misato demanded. "Put him on."

"Good Evening, am I speaking to NERV's senior leadership?" A middle-aged man's voice came over the speakers.

"Yes, sir. The Commander and the Sub-Commander are away due to business reasons." Misato replied. "I'm in charge right now."

"I'm afraid I have grave news. I was contacted by both the Russian and American presidents just moments ago. They are both quite…dissatisfied with the way Operation Yashima is going." The Prime Minister continued. "As I speak, Russian nuclear bombers are seconds away from Japanese airspace, with the Americans following soon. As they are headed towards Tokyo-3 to destroy the Angel threat, any attempts to intercept them have been forbidden by the UN."

"Sir, please tell them we just need ten more minutes!" Misato all but begged. "We are coming up with a backup plan right now!"

"President Valentine has given you twenty minutes." The Prime Minister of Japan replied. "That's how long it will take for his bombers to get to Tokyo-3."

"Thank you, Mr…" Was all Misato could squeeze out before being interrupted.

"However, the Russians aren't so generous. Their planes are circling in a holding pattern just outside Japanese airspace." The Prime Minister continued. "Their President gave NERV three minutes before he would order the bombers to fly in, and that was about a minute ago. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do at this point, I'm sorry, and good luck with your plan."

"No…" Misato whispered softly as the line went dead.

"Uh, Misato, you ok?" Kaji asked as he walked towards her.

"No." Misato said more loudly.

"Ma'am, we're getting readings from the positron cannon." Hyuga spoke up. "It's charging again!"

"NO! Don't you fucking lie to me!" Misato screamed. "We saw it, didn't we? All the power structures were destroyed! That's why they didn't bother giving us air support after that second shot. They know we're fucked!"

"They were destroyed, Misato, but Makoto's right." Ritsuko said as she scanned the readings on her terminal. "The positron cannon is actually recharging. It's an absolute miracle!"

Misato's expression contorted from rageful desperation to surprise, disbelief, and finally relief. All the bottled up tension Misato felt earlier just washed off in her mind as she re-exerted her authority over the command center to support Mari. _Two minutes, and power is already at 40%. Make this one count, Mari._

"That was a nasty hit you took back there, Shinji." Misato asked his ward. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I think I'm fine." Shinji replied. "I'm back in position. I'll block Mari's Eva with my body this time if I have too."

"Acknowledged. Take care of yourself out there." Misato then turned her attention to her tactical display, only to see the Angel starting to change form again.

"You just had to jinx it, didn't you, Shinji?" Misato muttered before contacting Shinji once more. "Shinji, that Angel is lining up for another shot. Get ready!"

Just as Misato finished speaking, the Angel fired, and a damaged Eva Unit 01 clambered out of its dugout, arms held in front of its face in a blocking position. Despite his injuries, Shinji stood defiantly against the oncoming beam that signaled his definite death. In the last moments before the beam hit, Shinji thought back to Morioh and all the wonderful people he met there.

 _Cousin Josuke, I guess I'll fall here protecting this city._ Shinji thought. _I'll tell your friend Shigechi you said hi._

 _One minute thirty seconds, positron rifle is 50% charged._ Misato thought as a single tear rolled down her face. _Every second we buy makes it more likely for Mari to kill the Angel. Thank you, Shinji._

Shinji screamed as he felt intense burning pain on his arms which reflected where the beam hit the Eva Unit. After a few seconds, he stopped screaming as he realized that the beam was only slowly cutting through Eva Unit 01's arms instead of disintegrating him out right. Too cautious to lower his arms, he endured the pain as he wondered in confusion about exactly what the hell was the Angel doing.

"The beam is far weaker than the Angel's previous attacks!" Maya said. "The cause is unknown."

While the command center collectively breathed a sigh of relief over Shinji's survival, everyone quickly resumed working to try to figure out what caused the Angel's sudden drop in power. Even Kaji was baffled!

" **「Red Hot Chili Pepper」** has one more trick up its sleeve!" Akira proclaimed to himself as his fingers danced furiously along the guitar's strings.

 **「Me and My Friends」** was a power gained years after Akira left prison. He didn't utilize it very often, which he compared to a magician's secret. When Red Hot Chili Pepper entered any wire or electric device, it was able to create miniature copies of itself in order to spy on and absorb power from multiple places at once. The more power it absorbed, the more clones Red Hot Chili Pepper could create.

Ever since he was brought to the little concrete hut by Kaji, Akira used his Stand to traverse NERV's electric infrastructure and tap into their internal communication network. It was during those quick excursions when he found out how the Angel was powered and its attempt to penetrate the GeoFront. Unluckily for the Angel, its drill cut through countless electric cables, which Akira was able to take advantage of. He first sent a few mini-clones to absorb some power from the reactor of the Angel itself and convert to electrical energy. Once Akira took in enough energy, he sent more and more mini-clones to use as parasites against the Angel until the entire length of the Angel's drill was covered by **「Me and My Friends」**. Over the course of the battle, the Angel had been getting weaker without realizing until it shot Shinji a second time. By then, Akira decided to switch to yet another song, one that was originally made by one of his idols, and broadcast it to the Evas by sending pieces of **「Me and My Friends」** into all 4 Eva Units.

Shinji noticed a guitar solo coming from the cockpit's speakers just as the Angel's beam dissipated. While he barely understood the lyrics, the young teen felt strangely empowered by the hot-blooded melody. As if compelled by the song, Shinji imitated a **「pose」** his cousin often made where he put his left palm facing down under his chin while holding his right hand in front of him. Satisfied with the little stunt, Shinji jumped back into his dugout.

"Really? You gotta play a song by _that guy_?" Mari complained as she heard Akira's song, something about divers and the eyes of a cat in the black and blue, over Unit 05's comms network. Still, their Stand-using ally was sapping power from the Angel and feeding it to her weapon, which she was grateful for.

"Mari! I don't how this is happening, but the positron cannon is at 150% power and rising." Misato sounded really excited over her radio. "You got twenty seconds to kill that Angel, do what you gotta do!"

"Roger, out." Mari let out a grin that was so terrifying, NERV was lucky she only flashed it inside the entry plug. She shut her left eye again and took a deep breath.

 _In. Out._ Rei opened her eyes slowly as she woke up to the sound of some heavy metal music.

 _In. Out._ Shizuka climbed on top of her Eva Unit and observed the carnage after using her Stand to get out.

 _In. Out halfway. Hold._ Shinji crossed his fingers as he waited nervously.

For the third time that night, Mari gently squeezed the trigger, which is reflected in Unit 05's own motions. The pink-clad pilot felt another kick against her shoulder and watched with her breath still held as the beam shot towards the Angel. The sky became as bright as mid-noon as the beam shot towards the city, tearing the Angel's AT-field as if it was wet tissue, before drilling through Ramiel right in the center. The Angel's core was instantly vaporized by the powerful beam that tunneled straight through its body, leaving a clean cut whole coated in molten pieces of Angel. The beam itself shot through several empty buildings before it was stopped by a mountain which was blasted into several pieces. The Angel's brilliant blue color dimmed to a pastel white before falling straight onto the city, crushing a large chunk of Tokyo-3's downtown core.

"Humanity ain't nothing to fuck with". Mari quipped.

* * *

"Send rescues teams to retrieve the pilots and any above-ground personnel." Misato gave the last orders of Operation Yashima. "The Angel is dead. Operation Yashima is a success."

The entire control room exploded into cheers. The crew congratulated and hugged each other while Misato snuck out to place a call to the Japanese Prime Minister. Within moments, the Russian and American bombers received orders to abort their mission and fly home with their deadly cargo left unused. Missile submarines in oceans around the world were taken off battle stations and went about their usual patrol routes. Launch silo crews stood down and resumed their regular duty routines. Tokyo-3, and all of Japan, narrowly avoided the threat of total nuclear annihilation.

Lieutenant-Colonel Katsuragi slumped against the wall and closed her eyes for the first time in more than 12 hours. She heard the door open and footsteps atop all the hollering that went on in the command center. She opened one of her eyes and spotted Ritsuko dragging Maya towards the women's washroom. Silent smirking, Misato stood up again and re-entered the command center to join in on the party that was happening inside.

* * *

 **Some Time Later**

"Mr. Otoishi, thank you for your contributions." Kaji shook the still-disguised rock star's hand after dropping him off at one of Tokyo-3's luxury hotels. "We couldn't have done it without you."

Kaji then took out a checkbook and a pen.

"I can't pay you from NERV's official accounts, but Jotaro and I have pooled together some of our own money to help pay…"

"Don't worry about the money." Akira interrupted Kaji before he could write in the checkbook. "Just think of this as a charity concert."

Despite some insistence on his own, Kaji realized he was fighting a losing battle, and pocketed the checkbook.

"Take care and have a good night, Mr. Otoishi." Kaji shook Akira's hand again. "Thanks again for helping us."

"So long, Kaji." Akira waved. "You know, I also do private concerts. Call me up if you guys want a show, I'll give discount rates to NERV from now on."

* * *

 **Washington DC (?)**

"Wh-what is the meaning of this?" The Secretary of State's face turned pale as he looked on at the blood-red ruins of Washington DC from the roof of a ruined White House. The hellish landscape smelled like something out of a slaughterhouse. Everywhere the Secretary looked, the city was devoid of all life save for the president and himself. As the politician looked on in shock, Funny Valentine wrapped his left arm around his underling's shoulder and leaned in so their faces were almost touching.

"On the 19th of July, 2015, NERV's attempt at defeating the Angel Ramiel ended in total disaster. There were no backup plans, no counter measures." Valentine said slowly and steadily as he tightened his arm around the Secretary's neck. "The result? All life on this world's version of Earth was wiped out, creating the hellish landscape you see today. Not even the smallest plankton survived. The only reason we can still breathe is because there is literally nothing else consuming the oxygen in the atmosphere."

Valentine then raised his right index finger and put it over the Secretary's mouth.

"Unlike certain nations who would jump at the chance to take revenge for historical wrongs, I have no desire for the destruction of Japan. The only reason I am aiming our nation's entire nuclear and N2 arsenal at Tokyo-3 is because I refuse to let humanity go quietly into the night. My heart and actions are utterly unclouded; they are all those of justice." The president continued. "Now, Mr. Secretary, please answer this little riddle for me. Should I rather have Japan's blood on my hands but the rest of humanity can live to fight another day? Or should I avoid an 'international incident' or 'genocide', but let humanity die as a result?"

The Secretary of State tried to choke out a few words, only for President Valentine to tighten his hold around the man's neck.

"That was a rhetorical question, and the answer is more than obvious. I want humanity to have a fighting chance against the Angels, with America showing her greatness by leading from the front. This is why I made sure to have 「the right people」infiltrate Tokyo-3 and why I have these drastic precautions in place." Valentine let go of the Secretary of State, letting the man fall to his knees as he gasped for air. "Mr. Secretary, I let you into my inner circle because I judged you to be a capable and trustworthy ally in my crusade against SEELE. Tell me, am I wrong? Should I let you meet your predecessor's fate?"

"No, Mr. President. You can still trust me." The replied said as he recalled the horrific sight of the previous Secretary of State colliding with his double and then disintegrating into a shower of blood and Menger sponges. "I am truly sorry for questioning you earlier."

"Good, now let's go back to the situation room." Valentine said as he ordered 「Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap」to help the Secretary of State back to his feet. "We don't want to miss the show now, do we?"

「D4C」picked up a piece of rubble and dropped it on top of two men before vanishing. Instead of getting crushed, the two men simply disappeared under the rubble and back to their own world, leaving the dead world behind.

====== To Be Continued ==|\|=====

* * *

 **Little Shinji in Morioh**

"Excuse me, Mrs. Hirose, but why isn't Mr. Hirose here?" Shinji asked as he set his bags down.

"He's very busy with work today, Shinji." Yukako replied with a smile on her face. "I'll go make some tea. We can get started with your homework in a little bit."

Shinji wandered into the living room and found himself a comfortable corner on the couch. After an intense workout session with Okuyasu the day before, Shinji was glad to spend some time after school to actually sit down. Out of curiosity, the young boy picked up a picture frame and examined it. It was a group photo taken on Koichi and Yukako's wedding day. Besides the newlywed couple, Shinji also recognized Cousin Josuke, Mr. Jotaro, Aunt Tomoko, Uncle Joseph, Little Shizuka, Okuyasu, Mr. Trussardi, and several others Shinji occasionally met, including Jotaro's daughter and a strange elf-like man. Shinji continued to examine the picture until he saw a shadow looming over it.

"Oh, my. It seems like you've taken a real liking to that picture." He heard Yukako's voice and immediately his head up and to the side to look at her. "Let's have some tea first, and then we'll do homework. I'll be glad to talk about the picture later."

The afternoon went slowly but calmly as the young woman helped Shinji with his homework and tutored him. The pair paused the session because Yukako had to go take a phone call, so Shinji just sat around waiting. He glanced in Yukako's direction and noticed her expression getting darker by the second. The young woman looked visibly angry when she came back. By some terrible sleight of hand happened when Yukako reached for one of the cups, and it was knocked over, spilling boiling hot tea all over the long-haired woman's arm.

"OUCH!" Yukako screamed as she held her burnt arm and turned away from Shinji, who slowly backed away. The young woman's long hair suddenly started flailing about the dining room, knocking out every loose fixture in the area. With a start, she turned towards Shinji with a look that Shinji thought looked just like his dad's when he got angry.

"STUPID LITTLE SHIT!" Veins were bulging out on Yukako's face while her wild hair flailed about, smashing any objects that got in the way.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" Shinji screamed as he ran to the washroom and locked the door behind him. _It's all my fault!_ Shinji thought as he curled up in the bathtub.

Memories of his dad's thunderous roars, fly swatters, and starving nights (especially during the period of time between mom's death and Rohan picking him up) flooded back into his mind. Tears welled up in Shinji eyes as he imagined the punishment Aunt Tomoko would pile on him.

"Shinji, are you in there?" He heard Yukako trying to open the door. She still sounded angry, so Shinji stuck his fingers in his ears and tried to hold his breath. "Open the door."

After a few seconds of clicks and sounds of pacing feet, Yukako spoke up again.

"Shinji, are you okay in there?" She asked more gently. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry!" Shinji yelled before curling up again.

"Shinji, I should be the one who's sorry." Yukako said softly as she leaned against the bathroom door. "I shouldn't have cursed at you."

"But-but-that cup!" Shinji said. "I was clumsy and ruined this afternoon. Just-just please tell Aunt Tomoko to not hit me!"

"Shinji, none of that was your fault." Yukako reassured him. "My Koichi already dropped five plates since we got married, and I'm still with him."

"But-but that phone call." Shinji had tears in his eyes. "Did I do something bad? Please tell me so I can make it up next time!"

"Shinji, you didn't do anything bad." Yukako replied. "That phone call was for something at work."

"But-but you were angry when you looked at me afterwards." Shinji slowly got out of the bathtub.

"If I did, Shinji, I really didn't mean to scare you." Yukako stood back up. "Sometimes people get worked up and act a certain way towards their friends and family, but that doesn't mean their friends and family did anything wrong."

Shinji stood silently in the washroom.

"They have a bad day, and their friends and family just happen to see them on that bad day." Yukako continued. "If they lash out towards those close to them beause they are in a bad mood, it's the bad mood person's fault, not because their loved ones did anything wrong. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Uh-huh." Shinji nodded meekly and unlocked the washroom door. He cracked it open and peeked outside. Yukako simply stood there with a gentle expression and a wet towel covering where the tea was spilt on her.

"Come on, now, Shinji. Let's go clean up together." Yukako said as he stepped out. "I'll let Mrs. Higashikata know you've done a great job today."

 _Note to self: get Josuke over to fix all this._ Yukako thought as she swept some debris into the dustpan held by Shinji.

* * *

Author's Note: Asuka will make her debut in the next chapter. In the meantime, reviews and feedback are more than welcome.


	9. Chapter 8 - Red Ambassadress

**Author's Note:** Well, it's good to be finally back. Midterm season was a huge pain in the ass. I was very excited to write this chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it too. Until next time!  
 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure or Evangelion. JoJo belongs to Hirohiko Araki and Lucky Land Communications while Evangelion belongs to Hideaki Anno and Studio Khara.

* * *

 **Marine Ecosystem Preserve, Outskirts of Tokyo-3**

"Excuse me, Doctor Kujo." Foo Fighters opened the door to the marine biologist's office, with the scientist's head buried in paperwork. "The representative from the Geological Survey of Japan is here."

"Send him in." Jotaro replied curtly as he kept writing, and a short thin man wearing a pinstripe suit stepped in shortly after. "So, what's this about?"

"Well, Doctor Kujo, the whole thing started two days ago, when one of our teams were investigating an underwater hill that suddenly appeared off the coast, approximately 10 kilometers from this facility." The man said. "During the survey, one of the subs scrapped off a little too much sediment and discovered what appeared to be organic material underneath. We think this might be something your people might be interested in investigating. Maybe even a joint mission?"

"I'll send some of my staff to help you guys." Jotaro replied without ever looking up at the man. "They'll be over in a couple of hours."

"Thank you, Doctor Kujo!" The man bowed and stood there for a couple of minutes before Jotaro finally noticed.

"Why the hell are you still here?" Jotaro asked. "Meeting's over."

"O-of course, s-sorry!" The man stuttered as he backpedalled out of the office.

" **「** **Yare yare…** **」** " Jotaro mumbled as he used his computer to make staffing arrangements for the new survey. _I'm sending FF on this one too. Something this big could be an enemy_ _ **「**_ _ **Stand**_ _ **」**_ _or even an Angel._

After Jotaro finished his staffing arrangements, he picked up a phone and dialed a number from memory.

"Ryoji? It's me. You might have heard about an underwater anomaly close to Tokyo-3. I need you to pull some strings and get military escorts in that area. I don't care if it's the Self-Defense Force, the UN, or even the Americans. I'll send you the coordinates in a bit."

* * *

 **One Week Later, Cemetery outside Tokyo-3**

Shinji stared at the grave of his mother in an awkward silence while Gendo stood beside him. Misato suggested the "father-son time" it right after Gendo and Fuyutsuki returned from their business trip. Despite Misato's reassurances, Shinji was skeptical about the idea from the start. It took a nice chat with Cousin Josuke on one of his visits to Tokyo-3 a few days later to finally convince Shinji to agree.

" _Just promise me you won't be hostile to him, all right?"_ He remembered Cousin Josuke's words. The problem with Shinji's promise was that he couldn't properly express all the resentment and bitterness he built up over the years. Hence the awkward silence.

 _You can do this, Shinji._ He thought to himself. _Just say something nice. Remember what Cousin Josuke said about him and Uncle Joseph._

"So…father. I still can't believe it's been so long since she's gone." Shinji spoke for the first time after they half-heartedly greet each other. "I still miss her, you know."

"I do too, Shinji. I do too." Gendo said as if he was reminiscing. "This is the only trace of her left. Everything else was destroyed."

"Why?" Shinji asked. _Do you even want to remember her?_

"People just have to move on. Not get tied down by the past." Gendo replied. "Seeing things that remind me of your mother every day would distract me too much from my work."

"But…"

"My memories of her are all I need." Gendo continued. _This will have to do until Instrumentality is complete._

Before Shinji could speak, he heard the sound of jet engines. The father-son pair turned and saw a helicopter land in a clearing right behind them.

"I guess our time is up, Shinji." Gendo said as he walked towards the chopper. "Have a good day, Shinji. Our discussion was quite… _productive_."

Shinji gave his dad a curt nod and walked towards Misato's car, where the owner stood waiting.

"So, how did it go?" Misato asked.

"Better than I thought, actually." Shinji replied. "I didn't get angry at him, and he actually said what we did was productive, whatever that means."

"See, Shinji? It wasn't all that bad." Misato said. "Now come on, let's go pick up your friends before we're off to the train station."

"What about Rei, Shizuka, and Mari?" Shinji asked as he got in. "We're meeting a new pilot after all."

"Kawajiri is driving Rei and Mari there. Shizuka's on duty today." Misato replied as she hit the acceleration. "And off we go!"

* * *

 **Tokyo-3 Train Station, NERV Terminal**

The Tokyo-3 train station is a state-of-the-art transport complex with the size and décor that is comparable to most major airports. It officially opened in 2010 in order to accommodate the increasing number of commuters brought on by the city's status. Besides the usual passenger and cargo terminals, the station has a terminal dedicated solely to NERV use that ferries staff and supplies into the GeoFront. With its own entrance and parking lot, the NERV terminal is segregated from the rest of the station and is heavily guarded by a mixture of NERV security personnel and UN troops.

"Whoa, it's just like a military base!" Kensuke exclaimed as he filmed the place with his camera. "I can't believe I actually get invited in here!"

"Thanks a lot for taking us here, Shinji!" Toji smacked Shinji's back as they walked along. "This place is wicked!"

Behind them, Mari was trying (and failing miserably) to get Rei to engage in conversation.

"So…Shinji told me you like Pink Dark Boy." Mari was running out of ideas. "What's your favourite character?"

"Would you like me to list them one-by-one, Pilot Makinami?" Rei replied. "We have, as people would say, 'time to kill'."

 _Can we just get there soon?_ Misato thought as she returned a guard's salute for the 50th time. _My arm is getting tired._

"Hey, Misato, is that it?" Shinji asked as he pointed his finger at a train solely consisting of two locomotives on each end, a passenger car, and a really long open-topped car. On the long car rested the bright red Eva Unit 02, with technicians in coveralls crawling all over the machine and surrounded by pieces of tarp that protected the Eva from the elements during the journey from Narita to Tokyo-3.

"Hmm, let's see now…" Misato replied as she scanned for a sign. "Platform 17? Yup, that's the one! All right, everyone, be nice!"

The group strolled up to the passenger car, with Misato stepping up to the door and knocking on it while the rest of the group stayed on the platform concourse. There was no response, however, and Misato knocked again.

"Maybe whoever is inside is taking a nap?" Mari asked as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Misato asked as she knocked for a third time.

"'Home' isn't quite the correct term for a train car, don't you think?" An unfamiliar Italian-accented voice spoke up behind Misato. "More like a box with some nice-looking chairs."

Misato whipped around and found herself face-to-face with a man that had somehow snuck up on her, and she back up against the door in shock. He had a slender build and wore an Italian special forces _'Vegecam'_ uniform with the rank insignia of a Major as well as a maroon beret. His straw-coloured hair was cropped short, and his chin was lined with strange square-shaped marks that Misato was sure were scars. In his left hand was a soft drink he bought from one of the fast food outlets in the terminal, while his right hand quickly came up in the form of a salute, which Misato hastily returned.

"Major Julius Caesar Zeppeli at your service, ma'am, but my friends call me Gyro." The strange soldier grinned, showing what appeared to be a metallic mouth guard engraved with the phrase "Go! Go! Zeppeli!". "You must be Lieutenant-Colonel Katsuragi. I must say, I didn't expect a fine _signorina_ like you to be my commanding officer."

"I-I-well, I am!" Misato finally regained her composure. "How did you sneak past the group I brought anyway?"

"Oh, those guys? It was pretty easy for someone like yours truly who's used to covert stuff." Gyro looked behind him. "I can safely say a long plane ride, turbulence, plus the train here did not dampen my skills."

"Umm, ok then." Misato raised an eyebrow as she offered her hand. "Welcome to Tokyo-3, Assistant Operations Director. You must be the Second Child's chaperone too, then?"

"Yup, that's me." He smiled, showing his strange mouth guard again. "Although you can't meet her quite yet. She's doing some diagnostic tests in Unit 02 before the train is cleared to head into the GeoFront."

"I guess we can wait, then." Misato said. "In the meantime, can you go down to the concourse with me so we can meet with the rest of the group?"

* * *

 **UN Science Vessel, Off the Coast of Japan**

Jotaro Kujo was impressed with how quickly Kaji jumped through the hoops of several agencies to form a small scientific flotilla so quickly. Aside from the GSJ ship that was on scene and the UN science vessel requested by Jotaro, UNAF-Japan dispatched combat vessels, and NERV sent their own research ship with Kaji on board. After a week of office and lab work at the Sanctuary, Jotaro was glad to finally be onboard.

"All right, you guys have been working on this for a week now." Jotaro said as he stepped into the fully-stocked laboratory on the UN ship. "Any leads?"

"Very little, Doctor Kujo. We only managed to clean the sediment off the object." A female scientist replied. "It has an extremely durable shell that none of sensors can penetrate, preventing us from looking inside. Judging from the sample we gathered, the object has to be either an egg or a cocoon. It's almost impossible to determine the creature's genome, let alone physiology and behavior. From what little we found out, it doesn't share anything in common with any Earth lifeform."

"The military escorts have a standing offer to use their munitions to attempt to crack the shell, but we have held off on this option because the potential damage on this new lifeform." Another scientist picked up. "At this point, though, we might consider their offer more seriously."

"Hmm, hold off on the bombs for another day." Jotaro said. "If there is still no progress, you have my permission to request the big guns."

"You got it." The second scientist gave Jotaro a thumb-up, just as an announcement came over the PA system about a new development.

"Seems like the divers found something." Jotaro turned to the door. "Come on, let's go to the observation area."

Jotaro and the others made their way through the ship's cramped corridors, emerging in the observation area, where several large screens to display what the submersibles were recording. Jotaro gestured for the man manning the radio to step aside, and he picked up the headset.

"FF, what's going on?" Jotaro asked as he examined one of the screens. "Talk to me."

"Not sure if it's showing up on screen yet, Doctor Kujo." Foo Fighters replied. "But it seems like the object is…slowly imploding."

Jotaro looked up at the biggest screen at the object, which was somewhat round and had a sickly green colour. In mere moments cracks appeared along the object's surface in real time. _That's definitely an egg all right!_ Jotaro thought as he continued to watch cracks spread all over the surface while bits of the surface began to sink inwards. At first it was one or two pieces every few seconds, then several more chunks sank deeper than the first few pieces, then pieces of the entire object's surface retreated deeper into the object as if it was collapsing from the inside. Just then, a technician announced that there was an underwater earthquake, and another voice came from the radio.

"This is NRV-202." The code signified that it was the NERV research vessel. "Our scanners have picked up Blood Type Blue when the object started cracking. That thing is an Angel!"

"Get the submersibles and divers out of there!" Jotaro ordered as he picked up the headset. "Get me Agent Kaji."

"Looks like we got a little issue on our hands." Kaji's voice came on. "Don't worry, I've already requested a little firepower from the UN flotilla. They should be firing in…right about now."

Several small blips that were most likely torpedoes, judging from the size and speed, appeared on the UN science vessel's sonar display. Jotaro watched impatiently as the blips came closer and closer to the object's position before disappearing, coinciding with a series of small quakes. Then, another wave of blips followed before disappearing in a similar way to the first one, and then a third wave came before the order to cease fire was given. Then a far larger blip, probably one of the UN flotilla's submarines appeared on screen and hovered over the object's position.

"This is Uniform 34, we have detected no traces of any life form." A German-accented voice came over the radio. "Stand by for further updates."

" **「** **Yare yare** **」** , that didn't do any good against the Angel." Jotaro said, a hint of frustration in his voice. He looked at the sonar screen again. The large blip was still there, and the sonar picked up dozens of small craters from the torpedo attacks, along with a massive one in the middle. Jotaro thought he saw the crater getting deeper with every ping and walked closer to get a better look. His suspicion was quickly confirmed when the German Navy submarine assigned to the UN flotilla radioed back.

"This is Uniform 34. Our sonars picked up what appears to be a tunnel at the epicenter of the site." The German voice came on again. "Scans show it appears to lengthen in real-time."

"I'll bet you five thousand yen that thing is headed towards Tokyo-3." Kaji's voice replaced the German sailor's. "Now, how the hell do we track this thing?"

"GSJ has seismic sensors planted all over Japan in order to track earthquakes." Jotaro spoke up. "The Angel is digging a tunnel to Tokyo-3, we can use those sensors to track the Angel's path towards the GeoFront."

"Good call, Doctor Kujo." Kaji maintained an air of formality since they were in public. "NERV is being notified as we speak. They should be able to scramble the Evas in time."

* * *

 **NERV Terminal**

"We've got an Angel headed towards the GeoFront!" Misato yelled as she flipped her cell phone close. "Major Zeppeli, is Eva Unit 02 combat ready?"

"Perfectly, ma'am. We can sync the pilot right here." Zeppeli replied, his drink still in hand. "There is also a temporary power source stored on the transport car, but it's only good for 10 minutes before Unit 02 is forced to rely on internal power."

"Good, they are prepping Unit 04 for launch right now. Shizuka can handle interception duty in the GeoFront." Misato said. "Get Unit 02 ready to surface deployment! I'm taking the pilots and the two guests to the GeoFront."

Zeppeli gave a quick salute, then turned around and started barking out orders to the techs who were perched on Unit 02 running diagnostic checks. The techs suddenly began moving with a renewed sense of urgency as their duty switched from diagnosis to launch. As Misato led her group away, she saw a tech approaching Zeppeli with a worried look on his face. _That's his problem to deal with right now._ She thought as she led them to the parking lot.

"Sir, we got an issue on our hands." The tech said. "We just picked up some kind of foreign object in the entry plug, and the Second Child has not responded to any communication."

"What?" Zeppeli's smile disappeared for the first time that day. "Get me the diagnostic…"

He was suddenly cut off by several blood-curdling screams. Zeppeli whipped around only to see one of the techs gripped in Unit 02's slowly-closing fist, and his colleagues with prybars attempting to get him loose. The tech's screaming quickly fell silent as the giant fist crushed his chest cavities. Blood dripped onto Unit 02's hand from the man's nose and mouth as his free head and shoulders jerked about for the final time. With a muffled roar, Unit 02 snapped off the strap that held down its arms and threw the dead tech at the ceiling. The mangled corpse hit the ceiling with a wet smack before falling onto the floor. Meanwhile, Unit 02 thrashed about, sending several more techs flying followed by a series of crunching noises as they hit any hard surface and their bones shattered from contact.

"B-blood P-p-pattern B-blue!" The tech reporting to Zeppeli stuttered as he looked at the results in his handheld scanner. "W-we have a second Angel!"

"Ma'am, we need another Eva Unit on the surface ASAP!" Zeppeli was already speaking into his issued cell phone at that point. "Unit 02 has been possessed by another Angel! We need to evacuate the entire station, NOW!"

* * *

 **Inside Unit 02's Entry Plug**

At that moment in time, Asuka found herself in a very disgusting situation. As soon as she tried to activate Unit 02, she saw a strange blue glow coming from underneath her seat. The source of that glow turned out to be something resembling mold that quickly multiplied in the LCL and spread all over the entry plug, adding a musty mold smell to the blood-like scent of LCL.

It attacked the electronics first so Asuka can't communicate to the outside world, then it attacked the door override just as Asuka was about to activate it. The mold then spread up Asuka's arms to the rest of her body and finally firmly glued her in place. She tried to wriggle herself free to no avail, and her screams for help were cut off by the layers of armor and the entry plug walls that was supposed to protect the Eva Pilots from damage. She felt gravity starting to shift and deduced that the Angel completed the activation sequence by itself and was ready to wreak havoc.

 _Think, Asuka, verdammit!_ She tried to come up with any kind of plan to get herself free and stop the Angel. She screamed again in frustration when she realized something: the fact that she could scream meant her airway was free. She grinned once she realized the Angel's fatal mistake. Trying her best to ignore the moldy smell, Asuka took several deep breaths to focus. _Just like_ _ **「**_ _ **der Trainer**_ _ **」**_ _taught you._

 _Koooooohhhhhh…_ She began the breathing techniques that she's been taught since she was little and felt the familiar warmth in her hands. She kept her eyes shut and continued her breathing just as she felt the gravity shift again. In a remote corner of her mind, Asuka figured the Eva was trying to sit upright, but she packed away that thought as she refocused on her immediate environment. Asuka heard a sizzling sound coming from where her hands were and kept breathing, the sizzling spreading to the rest of her body moments later.

Asuka's plugsuit was unique in several ways. Besides having reinforced shoulders and rib area as well as integrated knee and elbow protection, the suit's palms and knuckles were specially made using extracts from the Satiporoja beetle. The product was a plugsuit that afforded extra protection for the user and allow a user more effectively utilize the ancient martial art known as Hamon. When Asuka breathed, she filled her body with Hamon energy that seeped into the environment first through her hands then through the rest of her body. In seconds, the mold that covered her was burnt away, setting her free.

Asuka heard a muffled roar as if the possessed Unit 02 was in pain, then a loud clang with heavy shaking as if the Eva was trying to dig out the source of the pain. _Scheiße, I'm running out of time!_ Asuka thought as she looked for a way to completely clear the Angel from the entry plug. _Burning the Angel away with my hands is too slow. There's gotta be a faster…wait, I'm in LCL!_

Thinking back to all those times during sync tests where she accidentally infused all the LCL in the entry plug with Hamon, Asuka started her breathing drills again, ignoring the jolting caused by blows dealt by the infected Unit 02 to its own head. In a minute, the LCL warmed up, the smell of mold started disappearing, and yellow sparks crackled throughout the entry plug. Sizzling could be heard throughout the entry plug as the mold started to smolder and retreat while Asuka continued her breathing. Suddenly, a particularly strong blow jolted Asuka back until she hit a wall, knocking her breath out and sticking her to the mold that was infesting there. The sparks soon faded and the mold stopped burning. It then began quickly creeping around Asuka's body and head.

 _Nein! I'm not going to lose like this!_ The mold had already crawled over most of Asuka's face including her eyes and her chin. She took several deep breaths quickly, burning away the any mold on her bare skin, followed by her hands and finally the rest of her plugsuit. Not wanting to be caught off guard again, Asuka pushed herself towards her seat while she kept breathing, sending more mold burning away while Unit 02 continued to roar in agony. Although the seat was still covered in mold, Asuka's body was charged with enough Hamon that they all burned away with contact.

"Friss Scheiße und stirb, Engel-Schweinehund!" Asuka yelled, sending more Hamon into the surrounding LCL. The disappearing mold smell was quickly replaced with something Asuka thought smelled like a combination of burnt hair and garbage, but she pressed on with her breathing. All over the entry plug, mold quickly burned away while shaking in agony, and Unit 02 resorted to shaking its upper torso as well as hitting itself in reaction to the pain. Out of the corner of the eye, Asuka saw pieces of the mold trying to reach the door controls just like how she tried to do the same.

"What are you, stupid? Even if you did get out, metal also conducts Hamon. The fact that this entry plug and pretty much all of Unit 02 is metal means you'll have no place to run, and nowhere to hide." Asuka said. "I'm not just charging this entry plug with Hamon either, I'm sending Hamon all over Unit 02 using the pipes that circulate LCL throughout the Eva's body. Now, die! Cleansing Scarlet Overdrive!"

With her battle cry, a huge jolt of Hamon was sent out from her body, destroying any traces of the mold in and around the entry plug. The Hamon then coursed through all of Unit 02's body before dissipating on the Eva's exterior, destroying any traces of the mold Angel that didn't get cleaned up by Asuka's initial efforts and healing any damaged tissue. Unit 02 thrashed about for a final time, then became still. The Angel Bardiel was no more.

Asuka leaned back in her seat then suddenly jolted forward when she remembered there's another Angel on the loose. She quickly checked the electronics and controls for any damage before contacting Zeppeli.

* * *

 **Train Station Exterior**

"Ma'am, how close is the second Eva Unit for launch?" Zeppeli asked.

"We're going as fast as we can, but we can't launch the second Eva for at least 10 minutes." Misato replied over the phone. "What's the damage on the surface?"

"We got several dead NERV staff, but Unit 02 hasn't broken free." Zeppeli replied. "I was just contacted by the Second Child. She told me she managed to neutralize the Angel."

"WHAT? That means she did it from inside the entry plug!" Misato sounded surprised. "How the hell did that happen?"

"I'll let you know the details once this is all over." Zeppeli said as several techs ran past him into the train station. "What's the status of the first Angel?"

"Getting a live feed from Geological Survey sensors, it's rapidly closing in on Tokyo-3 and travelling underground." Misato replied. "We started the remote activation process for Unit 02 on our end. Do what you need to do to get Unit 02 online, and we can figure something out."

"Roger, out." Zeppeli stuffed the phone back into his pocket and then thumbed his radio. "Asuka, how're you doing? Over."

"A little winded and shook up, Coach, but I'm fine enough to kick the other Angel's ass." Asuka replied. "Let's get this activation procedure over with so I can have a piece of the action! Uh, over."

"That's the spirit, Asuka." Zeppeli smiled. "Gyro out."

After several minutes, Asuka notified Zeppeli that Unit 02 was fully active. Zeppeli then contacted Misato again.

"Ma'am. Are there any power fixtures in Tokyo-3? Unit 02 needs a more permanent power source." He asked. "Also, what's the Angel's ETA?"

"There are fixtures scattered throughout the city. I'll send a map to Unit 02's systems for the Second Child to make a call." Misato replied. "The Angel's ETA is…5 minutes. Wait, something is happening. The Angel is digging deeper! Per the MAGI's calculations, it's going straight for the GeoFront! Revised ETA is 7 minutes!"

"Hmm, the Angel has two possible paths of attack at this stage. It could either dig into the hollow of the GeoFront and briefly expose itself before going straight for NERV HQ, or it could bypass the hollow and go straight for NERV HQ without ever exposing itself." Zeppeli analyzed the situation for Misato. "Now, as per previous reports, Angels aren't dumb animals, so it would most likely go for the second option. This would make our job a lot harder since that option makes the Angel far harder to track."

"So, what do you suggest we do, Major?" Misato asked.

"I'll send Unit 02 down into the GeoFront. The Second Child needs the location of the nearest elevator down." Zeppeli replied. "I took the liberty of getting a helicopter and get a bird's eye view since I'm not going to have enough time to get to the command center."

"Roger that, Zeppeli." Misato said. "Good luck."

Just as Zeppeli hung up, a Chinook from the Air Self-Defense Force landed behind him, and Zeppeli ran onboard. He looked out through one of the windows and saw Unit 02 holding some equipment headed towards a square hole nearby.

"Follow the Eva!" He ordered the pilot before taking the co-pilot's seat. Unit 02 had detached the cable and rolled it up around its head before jumping into the pit. The helicopter followed the Eva Unit nose-first and was surrounded by darkness for several long moments before finally emerging in the GeoFront. By that point, Unit 02 had already landed and plugged itself in, Unit 04 was also deployed.

 _Now, Asuka, how will you face this test?_ Zeppeli wondered as he observed the scene unfolding in the GeoFront.

* * *

 **Unit 02 Entry Plug**

"One hell of a first mission isn't it, Second Child?" Shizuka's friendly face appeared on screen. "I could use some fresh opinion on how to deal with this thing. None of the adults in HQ could figure out how to get it."

"Damn it Ami, I'm trying to figure this out too!" Asuka replied before grunting in frustration. "I really don't want to go dig it up when it's drilling through NERV HQ. There's got to be a way we can force it to come out before it's too late."

"If we weren't so short on time, I'd suggest dropping enough N2 mines all over the GeoFront to dig the Angel up." Shizuka replied. "In the meantime, let's stick closer to the HQ."

"Jawohl, Frau Commandant." Asuka replied sarcastically before the screen blinked shut and disappeared. She followed Unit 04 to NERV HQ while desperately trying to come up with an idea. She thought back to the really abbreviated brief Misato gave her after Unit 02's activation on how the Angel is moving in the ground in the same way fish swim in the water. Remembering Gyro's teachings on breaking a problem down to simpler lines, Asuka decided to continue thinking about the problem along the lines of fishing.

 _We can't exactly use a fishing pole and bait, and a net is out of the question._ Asuka thought as she (or rather Unit 02) gripped the equipment bag strapped to Eva Unit 02's back tightly. _Electric traps. Wait a minute! If the other Angel reacted like to my Hamon attack, maybe I can use Hamon to shock the underground Angel and force it to come out! Hmm, I think I could make something work._ She quickly set down the gear she was carrying on her back and took out crossbow.

"Oberstleutnant Katsuragi." Asuka asked while Shizuka looked on in surprise at Asuka's weapon. "Do you have any ammunition for my weapon? The model is MM-144."

"We do, actually." Misato replied. "We got a shipment of ammunition in anticipation for your arrival. Sending it out now."

"Danke." Asuka said. "How's my sync ratio?"

"Huh? It's at 83%." Misato replied in a confused tone. "Pretty good for someone who's trained as long as you have. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just want to see how I'm doing compared to training." It was half of the truth. The other half was that she could better channel Hamon through Unit 02 when her sync ratio was over 75%. Before she closed her eyes and began her breathing drills, Asuka glanced at the timer. _Three minutes. Plenty of time._

 _Koooooohhhhhhh…_ Asuka breathed, and the oxygen-rich LCL helped her harness far more Hamon energy than she ever could outside of an Eva. Golden sparks filled the entry plug's interior as Hamon flowed out of the chamber, through the arms, and onto Asuka's crossbow. Shizuka glanced at Asuka and was shocked at how her weapon was covered in yellow lightning. Before she could call Asuka, Unit 02 suddenly aimed the weapon at the ground and started firing, sending electromagnetically-propelled spikes into random points on the ground until the magazine ran dry.

"Pilot Soyru, what the hell are you doing?" Misato asked angrily as Asuka grabbed a fresh magazine from the car sent from NERV HQ. "We still don't have a plan to fight the Angel, time is almost up, and you're here fucking around wasting ammunition!"

"Ma'am, I think I know what Asuka's planning." Zeppeli's voice suddenly interrupted. "It has to do with her abilities. There's no time to explain it yet, but I promise you I will tell the truth after the mission."

Asuka ignored the conversation about her as she expended the second magazine and grabbed a new one. She opened her eyes and took another look at the timer. _Two minutes. Time to kick this up a notch._ She climbed onto the top of the NERV pyramid and held on to the tip with one hand, and crossbow in the other. She continued to fire until the magazine ran dry, quickly clambered down to fetch another magazine, then climbed back on top of the pyramid. She repeated the pattern several more times until the entire area within a 10-kilometer radius of the NERV pyramid is dotted with Hamon-infused bolts from Asuka's crossbow. Asuka opened her eyes for the final time and glanced at the timer. _Thirty seconds. Plenty of time to spare._

"You better know what she's doing, Zeppeli!" Misato was still angry at Asuka. "She expended _all_ the crossbow ammunition we gave her!"

"I assure you, ma'am. There's a method behind Asuka's madness." Zeppeli reassured Misato.

Before Zeppeli could continue, the ground suddenly started shaking. The shaking grew stronger as the Angel approached NERV HQ. Asuka dug through her equipment and took out a stick which unfolded into a Progressive Spear. Shizuka aimed her rifle down at the ground, waiting for the Angel to come out.

The ground suddenly exploded as something resembling a giant grey centipede with a wide toothed mouth on the front exploded up the ground, throwing rock, soil, and previously-embedded crossbow bolts into the air. Shizuka saw yellow electric arcs surrounding the creature and quickly realized she saw the same thing on Asuka's weapon and all over Unit 02. The front half of the long Angel crashed on the ground, writhing in pain from the Hamon that leeched from the bolts into the soil.

"Time for some spear-fishing, Arschloch!" Asuka jumped up with her spear, ready to stab the Angel.

Eva Unit 02 thrusted downwards with the Prog Spear, but the Angel twisted away right before impact. Unit 02 slashed sideways with the blade, only for the Angel to dodge again and extend spikes from its shell. The Angel then tried to wrap around Unit 02, only to get distracted by shots from Shizuka's rifle. Seeing a new prey, the Angel pulled its entire body out of the ground and quickly rushed towards Shizuka with its mouth gaping, hoping for a bite.

"Di molto! By shooting all those Hamon-infused spikes into the ground, Asuka created a Hamon trap that would force the Angel to the surface!" Zeppeli said excitedly over the radio as he stood up in his seat.

"Sir, please sit down!" The helicopter pilot said exasperatedly. "This distraction is a major hazard to flying."

Shoving the pilot away, Zeppeli continued while Asuka lunged at the Angel again. "Just look at it! She infused her spear with Hamon so she could send that ripple energy straight into the Angel's body and deal a killing blow!"

A large eye suddenly opened on the Angel's back end between its two stingers, and it reared back and rushed towards Unit 02. Asuka dodged a little too late, earning Unit 02 a painful stab in the right arm. Meanwhile, Unit 04 barely dodged a bite from the Angel.

"Hey, Amerikaner, did you figure out where the core is yet?" Asuka asked Shizuka as she finally landed a blow, only for the wound to start healing right away. "I don't think death by a thousand cuts is going to work on this thing."

"Nope, still looking!" Shizuka replied as she fired a quick burst before dodging. "Any luck on your end?"

"You could help me by switching to something sharp and start poking!" Asuka replied as she stabbed the Angel's tail for the fourth time, leaving another slowly-healing wound. "If it starts to curl up, we're close to something delicate!"

Switching to her Prog Knife, Shizuka waited until the creature drew closer, then slashed its head before jumping out of the way…only to land back first straight on top of the creature's midsection, sending spikes digging into Unit 04 and causing Shizuka to cry out in pain. Meanwhile, Asuka got stabbed the leg by the creature's stingers. Coming up with an idea, she grabbed onto a stinger with one hand and stabbed the Angel's tail repeatedly. The combination of the prog knife and Hamon energy caused the Angel to thrash about chaotically in pain, sending a segment of its long body crashing into the NERV pyramid.

Recovering from her fall, Shizuka flipped around and stabbed deep into the creature's body, but barely drew a response. She jumped again and stabbed, embedding the blade further along the creature. The Angel suddenly curled up as if it was in extreme pain.

"Second Child, I think I got it!" Shizuka called Asuka. "Looks like the Angel's core is roughly halfway long its body."

"Keep slashing away along that area!" Asuka replied. "The more you hit a creature's vulnerable area, the more it curls up and tries to defend that zone!"

Asuka tried to run over, only for Unit 02 to trip and fall over. As she groggily got up again, Asuka realized that the stingers contained a venom that was causing the affected areas to seize up. Her entire right arm and left leg felt like they were on fire and unable to move.

"Damn you, Angel!" Asuka tried her best to hobble over while Shizuka was busy slashing away at the Angel's carapace. Despite her urging, Unit 02 refused to go any faster and tripped again. After she propped herself back up using the Prog Sphere, Asuka saw that the creature was trying to wrap itself around Unit 04 and crush it.

 _Kooooohhhh…_ Asuka breathed in some more, soothing the pain and causing the Eva to be able to run, albeit slowly. The Angel had wrapped itself around Unit 04 by that point, with its spikes stabbing into the Eva Unit.

"Hurry, Asuka" Shizuka struggled to talk as she was being crushed and she felt stabs all over her body.

Asuka breathed in some more and jumped up, with the Prog Spear in Unit 02's left hand, supported by the right hand. As she dropped down with the spear aimed at the Angel's still-exposed vital area, she supercharged the blade with Hamon energy.

"Metal! Silver! Overdrive!" Asuka screamed out as she plunged the spear into the creature, the tip coming out of the other side covered in a red fluid. After a two-second pause, the creature let out a grating death-rattle as it unraveled from Shizuka and exploded, sending red liquid and spikes around the area. Fortunately, the spikes by themselves bounced harmlessly off the Eva Unit's AT-fields. Eva Unit 02 landed on the ground with a roll and skidded a short distance before coming to a halt.

* * *

 **NERV Command Center**

"Impressive, most impressive." Gendo spoke from behind clasped hands. "The Second Child is certain a lot more formidable than I anticipated."

"Indeed, sir." Fuyutsuki said as he observed the little celebration below. "Do you think this will damage the scenario in any way?"

"In all honesty, I don't know." Gendo replied. "That Angel was not any of the ones mentioned in the Dead Sea scrolls. For reasons that escape even myself, the Angel that was supposed to come is unaccounted for."

"Recover Units 02 and 04 immediately!" Misato ordered. "And guide the other pilots plus the visitors to the Eva cages! Zeppeli, meet me there."

 **Launch Bay**

The helicopter dropped off Zeppeli on a helipad that extended out of the NERV pyramid, and he managed to find his way to the Eva cages after asking a NERV employee. He found Misato and the group of teens already there.

"All right, Zeppeli, I was definitely impressed by the Second Child's performance today." Misato said. "But what the hell was that? During the entire mission, Unit 02 was emitting UV radiation."

"I did promise to tell you the truth, ma'am, and my honor as an Italian compels me to do so. Asuka and myself are both practitioners of an ancient martial art known as Hamon. It's also known as Ripple or Sendo in certain parts of the world. In fact, I was the one who taught her." Zeppeli said. "By breathing a certain way, it allows the body to harness the power of sunlight for various purposes, chiefly healing and fighting. It is said my ancestor William Antonio Zeppeli discovered Hamon when he saw a monk in Tibet heal a man's gangrene with nothing but his bare hands."

"That's actually quite impressive, Major." Misato said. "Would it be possible for NERV to hire a Hamon master to teach the pilots?"

"I wish I could, ma'am, but only one in ten thousand have the aptitude for using Hamon, let alone master it" Zeppeli said. "From a quick glance, I can tell none of you have the aptitude for Hamon. I hate being harsh, but that's just the way things are."

While Misato and Zeppeli chatted, Eva Units 04 and 02 were being transported to their designated docks. Asuka noticed that her dock was right beside where Gyro and the others were standing. Feeling excited and impatient, she decided to pay them a little visit before the debrief.

Once Eva Unit 02 came to a halt, the entry plug extended itself halfway out of the Eva, and a figure climbed out. Shinji noticed it out of the corner of his eye, and he got the group's attention.

"Wait, is she going to jump?" Shinji asked. "She'll get killed falling this far down!"

"Just relax, kid." Zeppeli replied after he looked up. "Asuka knows what she's doing."

Just as the Italian officer finished speaking, the figure summersaulted into the air, dropping straight down onto the solid ground. Bright sparks surrounded the girl before forming into a golden aura while she was in freefall. When she landed, a wave of sparks exploded from where she hit the ground, knocking Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke back.

Once the dust settled, Shinji could clearly see the figure. It was a girl wearing a bright red plugsuit with bright blue eyes and had her long red heir tied up in a ponytail. Unlike the other female plugsuits, the number of her Eva Unit was on a light green patch on her right shoulder rather than the middle of her chest, which instead read "SORYU". On the suit's left shoulder was the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany.

" _Signori_ and _signorine_ , may I introduce the pride of the German Air Force." Zeppeli said with an exaggerated bow. "Captain Asuka Langley Soryu!"

"Misato!" Asuka rushed forward excitedly. "It's been forever!"

"You haven't changed a bit, Asuka." Misato smiled. "Always with a flair for theatrics."

"So, who's the pilot that got in thanks to his daddy?" Asuka's expression changed as she scanned the 3 boys, ignoring Rei and Mari. "Is it dumb muscles here?"

"Hey! What the hell?" Toji got defensive.

"Poindexter?" Asuka pointed at Kensuke before shifting her eyes to Shinji. "Or is it rooster head over here?"

"Soryu, what the hell did you say about my hair?" Shinji's expression turned dark as he mimicked something he always saw Cousin Josuke do. Without realizing it, **「** **Black Hole Sun** **」** materialized right behind him.

"Oh, daddy's boy has a Stand? How cute." Asuka said mockingly as she raised her right arm straight into the air, pointer finger out, while she splayed her legs. "Two can play the same game. **「** **Five Finger Death Punch** **」**!"

She snapped her raised arm down and pointed straight at Shinji. On her command, what appeared to be a set of steampunk exoskeleton arms flashed into existence, covering Asuka's actual arms. The gunmetal gauntlets were covered in dried blood and had spikes lined along the knuckles. The arms were a bronze colour while the metallic clockwork "backpack" had several exhaust pipes sticking out the top over her head. The two teens stared at each other for a few minutes waiting for each other to move while the rest of the hangar fell into a dead silence…until a loud crunching sound filled the air. It was Zeppeli, who somehow still had his drink and was chewing an ice cube.

"Well, I guess we finally broke the ice." He grinned as he stuck out his tongue, showing off shattered ice perched on top before pulling the tongue back in. "Get it? It's a gag I just thought of!"

The hangar fell silent again for a few seconds until Asuka burst out in laughter, **「** **Five Finger Death Punch** **」** disappearing in the process.

"Th-that w-was a g-g-good one, T-Trainer!" Asuka said in between laughs. "Break the ice! Who could have thought of that?"

"What the hell was that?" Toji asked with a confused look on his face as Asuka kept laughing even when tears started appearing in the corners of her eyes.

* * *

 **Later That Day**

 _Wow, what a day._ Shinji thought to himself as he unlocked the door to Misato's apartment after playing video games at Toji's place. _Having an obnoxious girl like Asuka around is not going to be fun._

He walked towards his room when he suddenly realized two things. One: there were boxes labeled "Deutsche Post" all over the place. Two: he walked past someone in the kitchen who had red hair, and Misato definitely did not have red hair. Shinji turned around slowly and saw Asuka wearing a tank top and shorts with a bottle of juice in her right hand. She wore her red hair loosely, but with her interface headset still on her head.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY APAREMENT?" Shinji demanded angrily.

"What does it look like, dummkopf?" Asuka asked smugly. "I'm moving in."

"But I'm already sharing the place with Misato!" Shinji was still angry. "You can't just waltz in like you own the place."

"Actually, I approved Asuka moving in here." Misato poked her head out from her room, her face red from drinking. "That cheapskate Zeppeli decided to go for a tiny apartment in Tokyo-3, leaving her with us. By the way Shinji, Asuka moved into your old room. You are now in the smaller room right next door, one room closer to me!"

"I really miss Morioh." Shinji quipped.

* * *

 **Little Asuka in Germany**

Summer vacation couldn't have come soon enough for young Asuka Langley Soryu. She was taken out of the regular German school system after her mama's death and was assigned several tutors who lived and worked onsite at GEHIRN. The remainder of the school year was spent force-feeding her various lessons and subjecting her to numerous tests. She never saw her papa a single time during the school year.

"You've progressed remarkably, Asuka." The director of the project told her at the end of the school year. "We don't believe in assigning homework during vacation time since it's your relaxing time. Have fun, and we'll see you after the summer."

Asuka ran excitedly towards her papa's apartment as she dreamed of all the plans she had in mind with her father. Dreams what were shattered when she saw a note from papa explaining that he'd gone away on honeymoon with his new wife. Asuka promised herself she would never cry again after her mother's funeral, but she came close that day. As she wandered aimlessly back to her own apartment, she bumped into the legs of a much taller man. He wore his hair in a mullet and dressed like a cowboy.

"I'm sorry." She said sheepishly. The man squatted down until he was face-to-face with Asuka and grinned, showing off a mouth guard engraved with the phrase "Go! Go! Zeppeli!"

"Asuka Soryu, I presume?" The man kept grinning. "I'm Gyro Zeppeli, a relative of your mother's, and I'll be taking care of you for the summer."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Zeppeli." Asuka said, still looking down.

"Don't be shy, Asuka, and just 'Gyro' is fine." Gyro smiled. "It's nice to meet you too, nyo-ho!"

"You look funny, Gyro." Asuka said as she started walking along with him.

"That's because I just got back from a business trip overseas." Gyro replied. "So, you ever been to Italy before?"

"Nope." Asuka replied.

"Viva! You get to visit Italy for the first time this summer." Gyro said cheerfully before going on about how beautiful his native land was.

As he went on about Italy and they started packing up Asuka's stuff for the trip, Asuka had a feeling that it was the beginning of something amazing.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** And there you have it, Asuka's debut! Make sure to leave reviews!


	10. Announcement & Interlude 1

**A/N: This Author's Note is for The Comfiest Man and the patient readers who've been waiting on an update since last year. I'm terribly sorry for not publishing any new chapters and my radio silence. The truth is that school and life in general went south at the end of 2016, and I spent the past year trying to sort out all kinds of personal and academic issues. Unfortunately something had to give, and I put my writing on the backburner as a result. I'm currently doing my last university course online and will be done after the new year. I appreciate the readers who are still following this fic, and I promise to have a new chapter out by mid-February at the latest. I've also had time to think over a few things and plan on addressing a couple of issues, especially about how Shizuka became an Eva pilot. In the mean time, here's an interlude. Your patience is greatly appreciated and will be rewarded soon.**

* * *

The American Ambassador to the UN was seriously getting on Gendo Ikari's nerves. For the past week, he had been pestering Gendo about preparing NERV HQ for a visit by President Valentine. The President was scheduled to visit Japan in November, and he decided he wanted to add an extra stop to the trip before he left the country. Despite Gendo's repeated refusals, the ambassador kept calling him. SEELE told Gendo to sort out the issue himself instead of helping him. The day after the double Angel attack and Asuka's first battle, Gendo's phone ran again.

"Sir, this is a request for a conference call." The operator told him. "It's the…"

"Let me guess, the American Ambassador." Gendo sighed. "I'll be there shortly."

Gendo mumbled complaints as he and walked to the large conference table in his office. With the press of a button, the holographic projector in the middle of the table turned on.

"All right, let's get this over with, Mr. Ambassador." Gendo said. "For the…"

Two holograms appeared, but none of them were who Gendo was expecting. The first hologram was a young Asian woman wearing a business suit. While the second hologram was a tall, well-built man with long blonde hair wearing a white suit. It was the President of the United States himself, Funny Valentine.

"Commander Ikari. My envoy told me that your facility is incapable of hosting a presidential visit. I'm making this call today to personally clear some things up. This is a simple courtesy visit, not an audit." The young woman said in Japanese while President Valentine spoke in English. "I appreciate the work your organization is doing and believe the visit would be a great boost to personnel morale at NERV."

"Mr. President, I appreciate your attention to our work." Gendo said. "But as I've stated to your envoy, NERV is constantly on alert for the Angel threat and therefore cannot afford any disruptions."

"That's not too much of an issue, Commander Ikari. The safety of myself and my personnel will be handled from my end." President Valentine's interpreter translated to Japanese. "I don't expect a VIP treatment nor a demonstration of the Eva units in action, just a quick tour of the facility and a chance to address the pilots. The visit will last a few hours at most, and we have no intention of staying overnight."

"I hope you understand that NERV isn't designed to handle dignitaries." Gendo said, hands still clasped in front of his mouth. "The interiors are quite spartan. I wouldn't want to disappoint a man of your status with how barebones everything is."

Silence filled the room for a few seconds, and Gendo was starting to wonder if there's a malfunction before Valentine spoke again.

"You can leave now." The President told his interpreter in English. "Go take a break."

The young woman's hologram flickered out of existence. Then, Funny Valentine turned his attention to Gendo Ikari and addressed him in accented but fluent Japanese.

"Mr. Ikari, I find your attempt to patronize me to be extremely insulting. While my political peers and rivals were busy sucking dicks and stabbing backs in Congress, I was guaranteeing America's national security as Case Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency." Valentine said in a calm and deliberate tone. "I served in more miserable shitholes than you can point out on a map, so I don't give a rat's ass about your facility's 'spartan' interiors."

"Mr. President..." Gendo tried to speak, only to be interrupted by Valentine.

"So far, you have failed to provide myself and my representative a single good reason why I shouldn't visit NERV. It's almost like you're trying to hide something, or maybe there's no actual work for me to see." Valentine continued speaking calmly, but the edge behind his voice was clear. "If you truly believe I would waste my time with this visit, then I believe I would be wasting American taxpayer dollars by funding your organization. I'm sure other UN member states have enough money to pony up in my country's absence."

As much as Gendo fought it, his hands were starting to shake, and he slowly grinded his teeth behind closed lips. As much as he didn't want to risk Valentine finding out a little too much about NERV's true nature, losing American funding would be catastrophic for NERV operations. After a few seconds, Gendo slowly took off his glasses and spoke.

"Very well, Mr. President." Gendo said. "I see no reason to refuse your visit in November. It will provide ample time for my staff to prepare the facility for your arrival."

"I'm glad we came to an understanding, Commander Ikari. I look forward to meeting you in person." Valentine said before his hologram disappeared.

After logging off, Funny Valentine rubbed his nose and leaned back in his chair. Now that the visit had been scheduled, he could focus on the million other things on his plate. The President then stood up, stretched his legs, and walked back to the Oval Office.


	11. InterludeTeaser

So I'm taking the story in a slightly different direction than before. Please be patient as I work on my next chapter. Meanwhile, here's a teaser for the backstories of Shizuka and another character.

* * *

 **2011, Florida coast  
**  
While Green Dolphin Prison burned, the Florida National Guard blockaded the sole bridge leaving the prison, and the US Coast Guard kept up vigilant patrols around the prison to make sure nobody escaped by sea. Having been tipped off earlier, Cape Canaveral was quickly occupied by a Delta Force sabre squadron as well as two squads from a unit that's entirely unknown to the public; a unit that was stood up solely to counter Stand users.

On board one of the Coast Guard cutters, a group of soldiers wearing charcoal grey uniforms huddled around the radio with their weapons at the ready.

"Alpha actual, this Hammerhead." The radio crackled to life after what felt like an eternity of waiting. "Both passengers are on board, plus one visitor. Heading to your position. ETA ten mikes. Over."

"Copy that, Hammerhead." The soldier manning the radio said and nodded towards his boss, a young woman with short brown hair and cold green eyes. "Have a safe trip. Alpha out."

As soon as the RTO finished speaking, the Captain barked out orders.

"All right, people! Get your asses to the RHIBs!" She said as she racked the cocking handle of her SCAR Mk 17. "Remember, our official mission is to assist the FBI in their investigation of the area. ROEs are simple: if anyone in the prison tries to fuck with us, ice them. Hooah?"

"Hooah!" The soldiers said in unison, save for the sole US Marine on the team who responded with the obligatory "Oorah". After the quick and dirty briefing, the team rushed towards the boat launch area, and the Coast Guard sailors got to work. A few minutes after the RHIBs left, a submersible emerged along side the cutter, and the hatch popped open. Out came Shizuka Joestar and Jolyne Cujoh at first, followed by Foo Fighters, then Jotaro and Giorno, then finally the two Coast Guardsmen who were manning the controls and the radio.


End file.
